Extant Text
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. * 2600 BC: Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the ''Instructions of Shuruppak'' and the '' Ke ...
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