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Ancient literature








History of literature
by era
Bronze Age
Ancient Egyptian
Akkadian
Sumerian
Classical
Avestan
Chinese
Greek
Hebrew
Latin
Tamil
Pali
Prakrit
Sanskrit
Syriac
Early Medieval
Matter of Rome
Matter of France
Matter of Britain
Armenian
Byzantine
Georgian
 German
Japanese
Kannada
Middle Persian
Turkish
Medieval
Old Bulgarian
Old English
Middle English
Arabic
Persian
Armenian
Byzantine
Castilian
Catalan
Dutch
French
Georgian
German
Bengali
Hindi
Old Irish
Nepali
Italian
Korean
Nepal Bhasa
Norse
Russian
Telugu
Serbian
Turkish
Welsh
Early Modern
Renaissance
Baroque
Modern by century
18th
19th
20th
21st
 Literatureportalvt
Before the spread of writing, oral literature did not always survive well, though some texts and fragments have persisted. August Nitschke sees some fairy tales as literary survivals dating back to  Ice Age and  Stone Age narrators.[1]
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).[2] The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. the 24th century BC. [3]
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[4]
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[5][6]
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)
2000-1900 Egyptian Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor[7]
1950 Akkadian Laws of Eshnunna
1900 Akkadian Legend of Etana[8]
1900 Sumerian Code of Lipit-Ishtar
1859-1840 Egyptian The Eloquent Peasant[7]
1859-1840 Egyptian Story of Sinuhe (in Hieratic)[7]
1859-1840 Egyptian Dispute between a man and his Ba[7]
1859-1813 Egyptian Loyalist Teaching[7]
1850 Akkadian Kultepe texts
1800 Akkadian Enûma Eliš
1780 Akkadian Mari letters, including the Epic of Zimri-Lim
1754 Akkadian Code of Hammurabi stele
1750 Hittite Anitta text
1700 Akkadian Atra-Hasis epic
1700 Egyptian Westcar Papyrus
1700 Akkadian Epic of Gilgamesh
1650 Egyptian Ipuwer Papyrus
1600 Akkadian Eridu Genesis
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.[9]
1600 Hittite Code of the Nesilim
1500 Akkadian Poor Man of Nippur[10]
1500 Hittite military oath
1550 Egyptian Book of the Dead
1500 Akkadian Dynasty of Dunnum[11]
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[5]
1200 Akkadian Tukulti-Ninurta Epic
1200 Egyptian Tale of Two Brothers[12]
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.[13]
1050 BC The Babylonian Theodicy of Šaggil-kīnam-ubbib.[13]
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, Ancient Hebrew writings, 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[14][15][16][17][18] with a final redaction between 900-450 BC.[19][20] Some give an alternate date of 1320-1280.[21]
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
Faltonia Betitia Proba: Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi ("A Virgilian Cento Concerning the Glory of Christ")
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)
Tamil:[22]
Tirukkural (Sacred verses)
Silappatikaram (The Tale of the Anklet)
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[23][24]
See also

Early Medieval literature
List of languages by first written accounts
List of years in literature