Ancient literature - wikipedia Ancient literature This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2012 ) History of literature by era Bronze Age Ancient Egyptian Akkadian Sumerian Classical Avestan Chinese Greek Hebrew Latin Pali Prakrit Sanskrit Syriac Tamil Japanese Early Medieval Matter of Rome Matter of France Matter of Britain Armenian Byzantine Georgian Kannada Middle Persian Turkish Medieval Old Bulgarian Old English Middle English Arabic Persian Armenian Byzantine Catalan Dutch French Georgian German Bengali Indian Old Irish Italian Korean Japanese Nepal Bhasa Norse Russian Telugu Turkish Welsh Early Modern Renaissance Baroque Modern by century 18th 19th 20th 21st Literature portal This article presents a list of the historical events and publications of literature during ancient times. The history of literature begins with the invention of writing, in Bronze Age Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Writing developed out of proto - literate sign systems in the 30th century BC, although the oldest known literary texts date from the 27th or 26th century BC. Literature from the Iron Age includes the earliest texts that have been preserved in a manuscript tradition ( as opposed to texts that have been recovered by archaeologists ), including the Indian Vedas ( see Vedic period ), the earliest literature from Ancient India, parts of the Hebrew Bible ( the Old Testament ; cf. dating the Bible ), and the Avestan Gathas ( see date of Zoroaster ). Classical Antiquity is generally considered to begin with Homer in the 8th century BC, and it continues until the decline of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. Although the earliest Classics were in ancient Greek, from the 3rd century BC, Greek literature was joined by Latin literature. As well as the Western canon, there is also a period of classical Sanskrit literature, Classical Tamil, and Sangam literature in India, Chinese classics in China, and in Late Antiquity the beginning of classical Syriac and Middle Persian literature. The following is a chronological list of literary works up until the 5th century AD. Literature of the 6th to 9th centuries is covered in Early medieval literature. For a list of the earliest testimony in each language, see list of languages by first written accounts. Contents 1 List of ancient texts 1.1 Bronze Age 1.2 Iron Age 1.3 Classical Antiquity 1.4 Late Antiquity 2 See also 3 References List of Ancient texts Bronze Age See also : Sumerian literature, Akkadian literature, Ancient Egyptian literature, Hittite texts, Vedic Sanskrit Early Bronze Age : 3rd millennium BC ( approximate dates shown ). The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC ( classical Sumerian ). The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, dating to ca. the 24th century BC. Certain literary texts are difficult to date, such as the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which was recorded in the Papyrus of Ani around 1240 BC, but other versions of the book probably date from about the 18th century BC. 2600 Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh temple hymn 2400 Egyptian Pyramid Texts, including the Cannibal Hymn 2400 Sumerian Code of Urukagina 2400 Egyptian Palermo stone 2350 Egyptian The Maxims of Ptahhotep 2270 Sumerian Enheduanna 's Hymns 2250 - 2000 Sumerian Earliest stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh 2100 Sumerian Curse of Agade 2100 Sumerian Debate between Bird and Fish 2050 Sumerian Code of Ur - Nammu 2000 Egyptian Coffin Texts 2000 Sumerian Lament for Ur 2000 Sumerian Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta Middle Bronze Age : ca. 2000 to 1600 BC ( approximate dates shown ) 1950 Akkadian Laws of Eshnunna 1900 Akkadian Legend of Etana 1900 Sumerian Code of Lipit - Ishtar 1900 Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh 1850 Akkadian Kultepe texts 1800 Egyptian Story of Sinuhe ( in Hieratic ) 1800 Sumerian Eridu Genesis 1800 Akkadian Enûma Eliš 1800 Akkadian Atra - Hasis epic 1780 Akkadian Code of Hammurabi stele 1780 Akkadian Mari letters, including the Epic of Zimri - Lim 1750 Hittite Anitta text 1700 Egyptian Westcar Papyrus 1650 Egyptian Ipuwer Papyrus Late Bronze Age : ca. 1600 to 1200 BC ( approximate dates shown ) 1700 - 1100 Vedic Sanskrit : approximate date of the composition of the Rigveda. Many of these were not set to writing until later. 1600 Hittite Code of the Nesilim 1500 Akkadian Poor Man of Nippur 1500 Hittite military oath 1550 Egyptian Book of the Dead 1500 Akkadian Dynasty of Dunnum 1400 Akkadian Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal 1400 Akkadian Autobiography of Kurigalzu 1400 Akkadian Amarna letters 1330 Egyptian Great Hymn to the Aten 1240 Egyptian Papyrus of Ani, Book of the Dead 1200 - 900 Akkadian version and younger stories in the Epic of Gilgamesh 1200 Akkadian Tukulti - Ninurta Epic 1200 Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers Iron Age See also Sanskrit literature, Chinese literature Iron Age texts predating Classical Antiquity : 12th to 8th centuries BC 1200 - 1100 BC approximate date of books RV 1 and RV 10 in the Rigveda 1200 - 800 BC approximate date of the Vedic Sanskrit Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Samaveda 1100 - 800 BC date of the redaction of the extant text of the Rigveda 1050 BC Egyptian Story of Wenamun 1050 BC Akkadian Sakikkū ( SA. GIG ) `` Diagnostic Omens '' by Esagil - kin - apli. 1050 BC The Babylonian Theodicy of Šaggil - kīnam - ubbib. 1000 - 600 BC Chinese Classic of Poetry ( Shījīng ), Classic of Documents ( Shūjīng ) ( authentic portions ), Classic of Changes ( I Ching ) 950 BC date of the Jahwist portions of the Torah according to the documentary hypothesis 900 BC Akkadian Epic of Erra 850 BC date of the Elohist portions of the Torah according to the documentary hypothesis Classical Antiquity See also Ancient Greek literature, Syriac literature, Latin literature, Indian literature, Hebrew literature, Avesta See also : centuries in poetry : 7th, 6th, 5th, 4th, 3rd, 2nd, 1st 8th century BC Greek Trojan War cycle, including the Iliad and the Odyssey 800 - 500 BC : Vedic Sanskrit Brahmanas Oldest non-Pentateuchal books of the Hebrew Bible ( the Book of Nahum, Book of Hosea, Book of Amos, Book of Isaiah ) see Carbon dating the Dead Sea Scrolls 7th century BC Vedic Sanskrit Aranyakas Greek : Hesiod : The Theogony and Works and Days Archilochus Alcman Semonides of Amorgos Solon Mimnermus Stesichorus 6th century BC Hebrew Bible : Psalms ( according to late dating ) Book of Ezekiel, Book of Daniel ( according to conservative or early dating ) Chinese : Sun Tzu : The Art of War ( Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ ) Vedic Sanskrit : Brihadaranyaka Upanishad Chandogya Upanishad Greek : Sappho Ibycus Alcaeus of Mytilene Aesop 's Fables 5th century BC Vedic Sanskrit : Aitareya Upanishad Taittiriya Upanishad Kenopanishad Avestan : Yasht Chinese : Spring and Autumn Annals ( Chūnqiū ) ( 722 -- 481 BC, chronicles of the state of Lu ) Confucius : Analects ( Lúnyǔ ) Classic of Rites ( Lǐjì ) Commentaries of Zuo ( Zuǒzhuàn ) Greek : Pindar : Odes Herodotus : The Histories of Herodotus Thucydides : History of the Peloponnesian War Aeschylus : The Suppliants, The Persians, Seven Against Thebes, Oresteia Sophocles : Oedipus Rex, Oedipus at Colonus, Antigone, Electra and other plays Euripides : Alcestis, Medea, Heracleidae, Hippolytus, Andromache, Hecuba, The Suppliants, Electra, Heracles, Trojan Women, Iphigeneia in Tauris, Ion, Helen, Phoenician Women, Orestes, Bacchae, Iphigeneia at Aulis, Cyclops, Rhesus Aristophanes : The Acharnians, The Knights, The Clouds, The Wasps, Peace, The Birds, Lysistrata, Thesmophoriazusae, The Frogs, Ecclesiazousae, Plutus Hebrew : date of the extant text of the Torah 4th century BC Sanskrit Ishopanishad Katha Upanishad Prashnopanishad Mundaka Upanishad Māṇḍūkya Upanishad Hebrew : Book of Job, beginning of Hebrew wisdom literature Hebrew Torah, also called the Pentateuch or Five Books of Moses with a final redaction between 900 - 450 BC. Some give an alternate date of 1320 - 1280. Chinese : Laozi ( or Lao Tzu ) : Tao Te Ching Zhuangzi : Zhuangzi ( book ) Mencius : Mencius Greek : Xenophon : Anabasis, Cyropaedia Aristotle : Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics Plato : Euthyphro, Apology, Crito, Theaetetus, Parmenides, Symposium, Phaedrus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno, Menexenus, Republic, Timaeus Euclid : Elements Menander : Dyskolos Theophrastus : Enquiry into Plants 3rd century BC Avestan : Avesta Etruscan : Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis ( Linen Book of Zagreb ) Sanskrit : Epics : Mahabharata and Ramayana ( 3rd century BC to 4th century AD ) Khaḍgaviṣāna Sūkta ( Buddhist ) Aṣṭaka Varga ( Buddhist ) Pārāyana Varga ( Buddhist ) Tamil : 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD : Sangam poems Tolkāppiyam ( grammar book ) Hebrew : Ecclesiastes Greek : Apollonius of Rhodes : Argonautica Callimachus ( 310 / 305 - 240 B.C. ), lyric poet Manetho : Aegyptiaca Theocritus, lyric poet Latin : Lucius Livius Andronicus ( c. 280 / 260 BC -- c. 200 BC ), translator, founder of Roman drama Gnaeus Naevius ( ca. 264 -- 201 BC ), dramatist, epic poet Titus Maccius Plautus ( c. 254 -- 184 BC ), dramatist, composer of comedies : Poenulus, Miles Gloriosus, and other plays Quintus Fabius Pictor ( 3rd century BC ), historian Lucius Cincius Alimentus ( 3rd century BC ), military historian and antiquarian 2nd century BC Avestan : Vendidad Chinese : Sima Qian : Records of the Grand Historian ( Shǐjì ) Aramaic : Book of Daniel Hebrew : Sirach Greek Polybius : The Histories Book of Wisdom Septuagint Latin : Terence ( 195 / 185 BC -- 159 BC ), comic dramatist : The Brothers, The Girl from Andros, Eunuchus, The Self - Tormentor Quintus Ennius ( 239 BC -- c. 169 BC ), poet Marcus Pacuvius ( ca. 220 BC -- 130 BC ), tragic dramatist, poet Statius Caecilius ( 220 BC -- 168 / 166 BC ), comic dramatist Marcius Porcius Cato ( 234 BC -- 149 BC ), generalist, topical writer Gaius Acilius ( 2nd century BC ), historian Lucius Accius ( 170 BC -- c. 86 BC ), tragic dramatist, philologist Gaius Lucilius ( c. 160 's BC -- 103 / 2 BC ), satirist Quintus Lutatius Catulus ( 2nd century BC ), public officer, epigrammatist Aulus Furius Antias ( 2nd century BC ), poet Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus ( 130 BC -- 87 BC ), public officer, tragic dramatist Lucius Pomponius Bononiensis ( 2nd century BC ), comic dramatist, satirist Lucius Cassius Hemina ( 2nd century BC ), historian Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi ( 2nd century BC ), historian Manius Manilius ( 2nd century BC ), public officer, jurist Lucius Coelius Antipater ( 2nd century BC ), jurist, historian Publius Sempronius Asellio ( 158 BC -- after 91 BC ), military officer, historian Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus ( 2nd century BC ), jurist Lucius Afranius ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), comic dramatist Titus Albucius ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), orator Publius Rutilius Rufus ( 158 BC -- after 78 BC ), jurist Quintus Lutatius Catulus ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), public officer, poet Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus ( 154 BC -- 74 BC ), philologist Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), historian Valerius Antias ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), historian Lucius Cornelius Sisenna ( 121 BC -- 67 BC ), soldier, historian Quintus Cornificius ( 2nd & 1st centuries BC ), rhetorician 1st century BC Pali : Tipitaka Latin : Cicero : Catiline Orations, Pro Caelio, Dream of Scipio Julius Caesar : Gallic Wars Virgil : Eclogues, Georgics and Aeneid Lucretius : On the Nature of Things Livy : Ab Urbe Condita ( History of Rome ) See also : Pahlavi literature, centuries in poetry : 1st, 2nd and 3rd 1st century AD Chinese : Ban Gu : Book of Han ( Hànshū ) Greek : Plutarch : Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans Josephus : The Jewish War, Antiquities of the Jews, Against Apion The books of the New Testament Latin : see Classical Latin Tacitus : Germania Ovid : Metamorphoses Pliny the Elder : Natural History Petronius : Satyricon Seneca the Younger : Phaedra, Dialogues 2nd century Sanskrit : Aśvaghoṣa : Buddhacharita ( Acts of the Buddha ) Pahlavi : Yadegar - e Zariran ( Memorial of Zarēr ) Visperad Drakht - i Asurig ( The Babylonian Tree ) Greek : Arrian : Anabasis Alexandri Marcus Aurelius : Meditations Epictetus and Arrian : Enchiridion Ptolemy : Almagest Athenaeus : The Banquet of the Learned Pausanias : Description of Greece Longus : Daphnis and Chloe Lucian : True History Latin : see Classical Latin Apuleius : The Golden Ass Lucius Ampelius : Liber Memorialis Suetonius : Lives of the Twelve Caesars 3rd century Avestan : Khordeh Avesta ( Zoroastrian prayer book ) Pahlavi : Mani : Shabuhragan ( Manichaean holy book ) Chinese : Chen Shou : Records of Three Kingdoms ( Sānguó Zhì ) Greek : Plotinus : Enneads Latin : see Late Latin Distichs of Cato Hebrew : Mishnah Late Antiquity See also : 4th century in poetry, 5th century in poetry 4th century Latin : see Late Latin Augustine of Hippo : Confessions, On Christian Doctrine Apicius ( De re coquinaria, `` On the Subject of Cooking '' ) Pervigilium Veneris ( `` Vigil of Venus '' ) Syriac : Aphrahat, Ephrem the Syrian Hebrew : Gemara 5th century Chinese : Bao Zhao : Fu on the Ruined City ( 蕪城 賦, Wú chéng fù ) Fan Ye : Book of the Later Han ( 後 漢書, Hòuhànshū ) Sanskrit : Kālidāsa ( speculated ) : Abhijñānaśākuntalam ( अभिज्ञान शाकुन्तलम्, `` The Recognition of Shakuntala '' ), Meghadūta ( मेघदूत, `` Cloud Messenger '' ), Vikramōrvaśīyam ( विक्रमोर्वशीयम्, `` Urvashi Won by Valour '', play ) Pahlavi : Matigan - i Hazar Datistan ( The Thousand Laws of the Magistan ) Frahang - i Oim - evak ( Pahlavi - Avestan dictionary ) Latin : see Late Latin Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus : De Re Militari Augustine of Hippo : The City of God Paulus Orosius : Seven Books of History Against the Pagans Jerome : Vulgate Prudentius : Psychomachia Consentius 's grammar Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite : De Coelesti Hierarchia ( Περὶ τῆς Οὐρανίας Ἱεραρχίας, `` On the Celestial Hierarchy '' ), Mystical Theology Socrates of Constantinople : Historia Ecclesiastica 6th century Latin : Boethius, De consolatione philosophiae ( `` The Consolation of Philosophy '', 524 AD ), widely considered to be the last work of classical philosophy See also Literature portal Early Medieval literature List of languages by first written accounts List of years in literature References Jump up ^ Grimbly, Shona ( 2000 ). Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Taylor & Francis. p. 216. ISBN 978 - 1 - 57958 - 281 - 4. The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC, when the Sumerians started to write down their long epic poems. Jump up ^ Jones, Mark ( 2006 ). Criminals of the Bible : Twenty - Five Case Studies of Biblical Crimes and Outlaws. FaithWalk Publishing. p. 6. ISBN 978 - 1 - 932902 - 64 - 8. The Sumerian code of Urukagina was written around 2400 BC. ^ Jump up to : Stephanie Dalley ( ed. ). Myths from Mesopotamia : Creation, the Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 953836 - 2. Jump up ^ Eccles, Sir John Carew ( 1989 ). Evolution of the Brain : Creation of the Self. Routledge. p. 115. ISBN 978 - 0 - 415 - 03224 - 7. The Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Sumer about 2200 BC. Jump up ^ Dalley, Stephanie, ed. ( 2000 ). `` Etana ( pp. 189ff. ) ''. Myths from Mesopotamia. Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0199538360 ; ISBN 9780199538362. Jump up ^ Oberlies ( 1998 : 155 ) gives an estimate of 1100 BC for the youngest hymns in book 10. Estimates for a terminus post quem of the earliest hymns are far more uncertain. Oberlies ( p. 158 ) based on ' cumulative evidence ' sets wide range of 1700 -- 1100 Jump up ^ Noonan, John T. ( 1987 ). Bribes. University of California Press. p. 4. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 06154 - 5. The Poor Man of Nippur dates from about 1500 BC. Jump up ^ Thorkild Jacobsen ( 1978 ). The treasures of darkness : a history of Mesopotamian religion. Yale University Press. pp. 167 -- 168, 231. `` Perhaps it was brought east with the Amorites of the First Dynasty of Babylon. '' Jump up ^ Miriam Lichtheim, Ancient Egyptian Literature, vol. 2, 1980, p. 203 ^ Jump up to : Alan Lenzi ( 2008 ). `` The Uruk List of Kings and Sages and Late Mesopotamian Scholarship ''. Journal of Ancient Near Eastern Religions. 8 ( 2 ) : 137 -- 169. doi : 10.1163 / 156921208786611764. Jump up ^ according to ancient Jewish and Christian tradition, and some modern scholars ; see above inline citations. Jump up ^ Talmud, Bava Bathra 146 Jump up ^ Mishnah, Pirqe Avoth 1 : 1 Jump up ^ Josephus, Flavius ( 1926 ). `` 11 : 8 ''. The Life. Against Apion. ( Loeb Classical Library ). Loeb Classical Library. p. 448. ISBN 978 - 0 - 674 - 99205 - 4. For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another ( as the Greeks have ) but only 22 books, which are justly believed to be divine ; and of them, five belong to Moses, which contain his laws, and the traditions of the origin of mankind till his death. Jump up ^ Stuart, Douglas K ( 2006 ). New American Commentary Vol. II : Exodus. Holman Reference. p. 826. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8054 - 0102 - 8. Jump up ^ `` Introduction to the Pentateuch. Introduction to Genesis. ''. ESV Study Bible ( 1st ed. ). Crossway. 2008. p. XLII, 29 -- 30. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4335 - 0241 - 5. Jump up ^ RA Torrey, ed. ( 1994 ). `` I - XI ''. The Fundamentals : A Testimony to the Truth ( 11th ed. ). Baker Academic. ISBN 978 - 0 - 8010 - 1264 - 8. Jump up ^ Hoffmeier, James K ( 1999 ). Israel in Egypt : The Evidence for the Authenticity of the Exodus Tradition. Oxford University Press. p. 280. ISBN 978 - 0 - 19 - 513088 - 1. Jump up ^ The Consolation of Philosophy ( Oxford World 's Classics ), Introduction ( 2000 ) Jump up ^ Dante placed Boethius the `` last of the Romans and first of the Scholastics '' among the doctors in his Paradise ( see The Divine Comedy ). Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ancient_literature&oldid=804935940 '' Categories : History of literature Ancient literature Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from January 2012 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2012 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Башҡортса Български Bosanski Català Čeština Español Esperanto Français Հայերեն Hrvatski Қазақша Latviešu Lietuvių Magyar Македонски Română Русский Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 12 October 2017, at 01 : 10. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. 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Question: what is the worlds oldest work of literature outside of the bible
Answer: Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh