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Ancient literature

Ancient literature comprises religious and scientific documents, tales, poetry and plays, royal edicts and declarations, and other forms of writing that were recorded on a variety of media, including stone, clay tablets, papyri, palm leaves, and metal.

Before the spread of writing, oral literature did not always survive well, but some texts and fragments have persisted.

An unknown number of written works have not survived the ravages of time and are therefore lost.

Incomplete list of ancient texts

Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age

3rd millennium BC (approximate dates shown). The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC (classical Sumerian). 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.

Middle Bronze Age

2000 BC to 1601 BC (approximate dates shown)

Late Bronze Age

1600 BC to 1201 BC (approximate dates shown)

Iron Age

Iron Age texts predating Classical Antiquity: 12th to 8th centuries BC

Classical antiquity

9th century BC

8th century BC

7th century BC

6th century BC

5th century BC

4th century BC

3rd century BC

2nd century BC

1st century BC

1st century AD

2nd century

3rd century

Late Antiquity

4th century

5th century

6th century

See also

References