What is the oldest known written piece of literature on the earth today?

Answer 1

I think it's Gilgamesh.

http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/MESO/GILG.HTM

Answer 2

Hoo, boy! I get a laugh out of all the folks who assume the Bible is the oldest known writings! Where's their archaeology? The Bible wasn't written down till around 300-350 AD.

The Enuma Elish is numbered among some of the oldest works yet discovered, dating back to around 2000 BC. Of course, clay tablets and even stories on cave wall pictographs date further back than that. And yes, Sumerian writings going back to 3400 and earlier have been found.

I'm not sure if this question refers to "literature" as stories, or just any written work, including notes on clay tablets?

Answer 3

A treatise on medical remedies from Sumer, dated to more than 5,000BCE. Fortunately written in clay and then baked, it remains extant to this day. Unfortunately, it is incomplete.

If you want the oldest piece of fiction, then the Epic of Gilgamesh, parts of which are known to have been written in the same time frame and by the same Sumerians as the aforementioned medical treatise.

Answer 4

Science including medicine has a long history in Middle and Near East and goes back to the ancient Mesopotamian period (Beginning with Sumer 3000BC). There are many cuneiform tablets from cities as ancient as Uruk (2500 BC). The bulk of the tablets that do mention medical practices have survived from the library of Asshurbanipal at Nineveh (668BC) Assyria. So far 660 medical tablets from this library and 420 tablets from the library of a medical practitioner from Neo-Assyrian period, as well as Middle Assyrian and Middle Babylonian texts have been published.

Answer 5

something it truly is written and is mentioned to be "historic past" isn't immediately believed. it incredibly is taken at face value, and tries are made to ensure it, including searching valid records of countless information. The resource is likewise examined, and conflicting comments are additionally sought for. there have been countless circumstances the place Egyptian writings have recorded one ingredient, and different mesopotamian cultures have recorded something conflicting, yet the place the two records checklist the comparable adventure. So, the two records are taken into consideration and "normalized" to objective to get an independent reconstruction. the comparable ingredient has been carried out for the bible, and information in the bible have been demonstrated, including countless names and places, yet lots of the activities have been thoroughly refuted or are heavily different from different recordings of the activities. And, because of the fact the bible is the beginning place of a faith, it incredibly is, for sure, seen to be somewhat biased because it has a vested activity and objective in each and every suitable "adventure". it is likewise no longer a organic historic past and so could desire to be examine and seen as a different that should, or could no longer, incorporate some references to truly historic activities. And, the actuality it truly is wasn't actually gathered right into a unmarried "e book" until eventually hundreds of years after the activities it purports to depict would not help its credibility.

Answer 6

Probably the Elba tablets or the Sumerian tablets. Both are believed to have been written prior to 3000 B.C. If this is correct, it would be before Noah's flood by as much as 500 or more years.

Answer 7

Not certain if they are the oldest, but I would suspect that the cuniform picograph tablets of the Sumerian cultures would be close to the beginnings...around 3400 BC

Answer 8

The Ramayana and the Mahabharata are the oldest piece of litreture

Answer 9

I would think parts of the Bible must be right near the top of the list. The code of Hamaribi I believe to be one of them, and the Epic of Gilgamesh might be another one. Which is oldest I don't know.

Answer 10

The bible.

Give me thumbs down if you want,
But the holy bible was written over two thousand years ago,
It is the oldest piece of literature, weather you read it, hold true to it,
or think is bunch of baloney
It is still older than Harry Potter or Flowers in the attic,
But the scripture that were PUT in the bible started with Abraham and Sara.
A good THOUSAND years before jesus was even born.
And if the Rig Veta is considered the oldest book, and the first scripture from the bible was written BEFORE that,
Then yeah, I'd still asay the bible

Answer 11

One of the oldest is the Rosetta Stone. It is housed in the Brithish museum presently.
http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/compass/ixbin/goto?id=OBJ67