Empire ancient city-states of the Levant. Circa 1500 BC in China rose the Shang Empire which was succeeded by the Zhou Empire circa 1100 BC. Both surpassed in territory their contemporary Near Eastern empires. The Zhou Empire dissolved in 770 BC into feudal multi-state system which lasted for five and a half centuries until the universal conquest of Qin in 221 BC. The first empire comparable to Rome in organization was the Neo-Assyrian Empire (916–612 BC). The Median Empire was the first empire within the territory of Persia. By the 6th century BC, after having allied with the Babylonians to defeat
Pataliputra capital the capital raises the possibility of simultaneous artistic influence and even the possibility that foreign artists were present in the capital. According to Boardman, such foreign influence on India was important, just as many other Old World empires have been influenced by foreign cultures as well: "The Diffusion of Classical Art in Antiquity" John Boardman, Princeton University Press, 1993<br> "The Greeks in Asia" by John Boardman, Thames and Hudson, 2015 Online version Pataliputra capital The Pataliputra capital is a monumental rectangular capital with volutes and Classical Greek designs, that was discovered in the palace ruins of the ancient Mauryan Empire