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.
Early Bronze Age: 3rd millennium BC (approximate dates shown).
The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC (classical Sumerian).