Ancient literature


Before the spread of writing, oral literature did not always survive well, though some texts and fragments have persisted. sees some fairy tales as literary survivals dating back to Ice Age and Stone Age narrators.

List of ancient texts

Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age: 3rd millennium BCE. The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BCE. The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. the 24th century BCE.
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 BCE, but other versions of the book probably date from about the 18th century BCE.
Middle Bronze Age: ca. 2000 to 1600 BCE
Late Bronze Age: ca. 1600 to 1200 BCE
Iron Age texts predating Classical Antiquity: 12th to 8th centuries BCE
8th century BCE
7th century BCE
6th century BCE
5th century BCE
4th century BCE
3rd century BCE
2nd century BCE
1st century BCE
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;2nd century
;3rd century
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;5th century
;6th century