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Ancient literature

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The History of literature begins with the history of writing, in Bronze Age Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt, although the oldest literary texts that have come down to us date to a full millennium after the invention of writing, to the late 3rd millennium BC. The earliest literary authors known by name are Ptahhotep and Enheduanna, dating to ca. the 24th and 23rd centuries BC, respectively.

Texts handed down by oral tradition may predate their fixation in written form by several centuries, or, in extreme cases, even millennia. Classical Antiquity is usually considered to begin with Homer, in the 8th century BC. Many older literary texts are known, but often difficult to date. This includes the texts in the Hebrew Bible, the Pentateuch being traditionally dated to the 15th century BC, while modern scholarship puts it to the 10th century BC at the very earliest. An early example is the so called Egyptian Book of the Dead which was eventually written down in the Papyrus of Ani around 250 BC but probably dates from about the 18th century BC.

List of ancient texts

Bronze Age

  • Early Bronze Age (ca. 3500 to 2500 BC) approximate dates shown
    • 2600 BC Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh Temple Hymn
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Classical Antiquity

See also Ancient Greek literature, Latin literature, Indian literature

See also

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