February 09, 2025

How Old Is Old? Over 5000 Years!

Here are ten of the oldest known texts in human history:

1. **The Kish Tablet (c. 3500–3000 BCE)**
- One of the earliest known examples of writing, discovered in Kish, an ancient Sumerian city (modern-day Iraq). It contains proto-cuneiform script.

2. **The Sumerian King List (c. 2100 BCE)**
- A historical record of Sumerian kings, blending mythology and history. It was found in several Mesopotamian locations.

3. **The Pyramid Texts (c. 2400–2300 BCE)**
- Ancient Egyptian religious texts inscribed on pyramid walls, meant to guide pharaohs into the afterlife.

4. **The Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 BCE)**
- The world’s first great literary work, this Mesopotamian epic tells the story of King Gilgamesh and his quest for immortality.

5. **The Instructions of Shuruppak (c. 2600–2500 BCE)**
- One of the oldest known pieces of wisdom literature, this text offers fatherly advice on ethics and behavior.

6. **The Palermo Stone (c. 2400 BCE)**
- An ancient Egyptian inscription that records the reigns of early kings, one of the oldest historical texts.

7. **The Rigveda (c. 1500 BCE)**
- The oldest known Hindu scripture, composed in Sanskrit, containing hymns dedicated to the gods of early Vedic culture.

8. **The Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2100–2050 BCE)**
- The oldest known law code, predating Hammurabi’s Code, created by King Ur-Nammu of Sumer.

9. **The Code of Hammurabi (c. 1754 BCE)**
- A Babylonian law code written on a stone stele, known for the principle of "an eye for an eye."

10. **The Dead Sea Scrolls (c. 3rd century BCE–1st century CE)**
- A collection of Jewish texts found in caves near the Dead Sea, containing the oldest known copies of parts of the Hebrew Bible.