Literature

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Definition

Literature (from the Latin Littera meaning 'letters' and referring to an acquaintance with the written word) is the written work of a specific culture, sub-culture, religion, philosophy or the study of such written work which may appear in poetry or in prose. Literature, in the west, originated in the southern Mesopotamia region of Sumer (c. 3200) in the city of Uruk and flourished in Egypt, later in Greece (the written word having been imported there from the Phoenicians) and from there, to Rome. Writing seems to have originated independently in China from divination practices and also independently in Mesoamerica and elsewhere.

More about: Literature

Timeline

  • c. 2500 BCE
    Beginning of literature in Sumerian.
  • 2285 BCE - 2250 BCE
    Life of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, and world's first author known by name.
  • c. 2150 BCE - c. 1400 BCE
    The tales of Gilgamesh written which inform The Epic of Gilgamesh
  • c. 1900 BCE - c. 1600 BCE
    Composition of The Descent of Inanna.
  • c. 1900 BCE - c. 1600 BCE
    The poem "Descent of Inanna" is written.
  • c. 1640 BCE - c. 1700 BCE
    Written form of the Atrahasis Myth of the Great Flood.
  • 1345 BCE
    The world's first manual on training horses is written by the Mitanni horse trainer Kikkuli (found in Hattusa).
  • c. 1120 BCE
    Extant copy of the Sumerian Enuma Elish (creation story) is made from much older text.
  • c. 800 BCE - c. 700 BCE
    Homer of Greece writes his Iliad and Odyssey.
  • c. 700 BCE
    Greek poet Hesiod writes his Theogony and Works and Days.
  • c. 647 BCE - c. 629 BCE
    Extensive collection of clay tablets acquired known as Ashurbanipal's Library at Nineveh.
  • c. 500 BCE
    The Indian epic the Ramayana is composed by the sage Valmiki.
  • c. 400 BCE - c. 200 CE
    The Bhagavad Gita, part of the Mahabharata, is written at some point between 400 BCE and 200 CE.
  • 213 BCE
    The Burning of the Books and the Burying of Philosophers Period in China.
  • c. 205 BCE - 184 BCE
    Plautus writes his Roman comedy plays.
  • c. 200 BCE
    Plautus' comedy play Stichus is first performed.
  • c. 191 BCE
    Plautus' comedy play Pseudolus is first performed.
  • c. 100 BCE
    Buddhist sutras began to be written down in Pali.
  • 59 BCE - 17 CE
    Life of Livy.
  • 43 BCE - 17 CE
    Life of the Roman writer Ovid, author of Metamorphoses.
  • c. 30 BCE - c. 19 BCE
    Roman poet Virgil writes his Aeneid.
  • 23 CE - Aug 79 CE
    Life of Pliny the Elder.
  • c. 69 CE - c. 130 CE
    Life of Roman biographer Suetonius who wrote 'The Twelve Caesars'.
  • 148 CE
    An Shigao is the first Buddhist translator mentioned in Chinese sources who established a translation centre in the Chinese imperial capital, Luoyang.
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