Ancient literature

Ancient literature comprises poems, stories, drama, and other literary works produced by early civilizations. It survives in diverse languages, forms, and manuscript traditions.

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Epic of Gilgamesh: A Mesopotamian epic poem about kingship, friendship, mortality, and the quest for immortality. Its cuneiform tablets preserve one of the oldest surviving literary narratives.
Epic poetry: Long narrative poetry recounting heroic deeds, legendary events, or a people's history. Epic is a major form shared across several ancient literary cultures.
Sumerian literature: Literary works composed in Sumerian, including hymns, proverbs, myths, and epic narratives. Sumerian compositions are among the earliest recorded literary traditions.
Textual criticism: The study of textual variants to establish or interpret the history of a written work. Surviving ancient copies often differ, requiring scholars to assess competing readings.
Classical tradition: The body of ancient Greek and Roman texts and ideas transmitted as a foundation for later education and culture. Greek and Roman works became especially influential models within later literary education.
Book of the Dead: A collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells intended to guide the dead through the afterlife. Its spells combine literary language with beliefs about death and transformation.
Oral literature: Literature composed, performed, and transmitted primarily through speech rather than writing. Many ancient texts grew from performances and traditions older than their surviving copies.
Ancient Egyptian literature: Texts composed in ancient Egypt, including stories, hymns, wisdom writing, and funerary works. Egyptian literature developed alongside temple, court, and scribal cultures.
Manuscript: A document written by hand rather than produced by printing or an equivalent mechanical process. Ancient literature survives chiefly through handwritten copies and fragments.
Neoclassicism: A cultural movement that revived or imitated forms and ideals associated with ancient Greece and Rome. Its writers and artists consciously returned to ancient models.