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Literature and writing, though obviously connected, are not synonymous. The first writings from ancient Sumeria by any reasonable definition do not constitute literature—the same is true of the Egyptian hieroglyphics or the thousands of logs from ancient Chinese regimes. Scholars always have and always will disagree concerning when the earliest records-keeping in writing becomes more like "literature" than anything else: the definition is largely subjective.
Moreover, it must be borne in mind that, given the significance of distance as a cultural isolator in earlier centuries, the historical development of literature did not occur at an even pace across the world. The problems of creating a uniform global history of literature are compounded by the fact that many texts have been lost over the millennia, either deliberately, by accident, or by the total disappearance of the originating culture. Much has been written, for example, about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria in the 3rd century BC, and the innumerable key texts which are believed to have been lost forever to the flames. The deliberate suppression of texts (and often their authors) by organisations of either a spiritual or a temporal nature further shrouds the subject.
Certain primary texts, however, may be isolated which have a qualifying role as literature's first stirrings. Early orally transmitted tales such as the Epic of Gilgamesh ( 8th century BC9th century BC 8th century BC 7th century BC other centuries) ( 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC 760s BC 750s BC 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC 700s BC other decades) ( 2nd millennium BC 1st millennium BC 1st millennium AD) Events Golden age in Armenia As) or the EveThis article is about the biblical Adam and Eve. For other uses, see Adam (disambiguation) and Eve (disambiguation According to the Book of Genesis of the Bible and to the Quran, Adam "Dust; mankind", Standard Hebrew Adam Tiberian Hebrew m Arabic dam was story of LilithThis article is about the demon Lilith. For other meanings of the word see Lilith (disambiguation). Lilith is known as a Mesopotamian night demon with a penchant for destroying children. She is also sometimes thought of as the first wife of the Biblical A ( 16th century BC17th century BC 16th century BC 15th century BC other centuries) ( 1600s BC 1590s BC 1580s BC 1570s BC 1560s BC 1550s BC 1540s BC 1530s BC 1520s BC 1510s BC 1500s BC other decades) ( 3rd millennium BC 2nd millennium BC 1st millennium BC) Events 1700 1500) were eventually written down. The stories in The Bible most certainly qualify as early literature, as do two other orally transmitted and subsequently transcribed epics, the stories usually attributed to HomerFor other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). Homer ( Greek Ὅμηρος Hómēros was a legendary (or perhaps mythical) early Greek poet traditionally credited with authorship of the major Greek epics Iliad a, The Iliad and The Odyssey. In China, a mystical collection of poems attributed to Lao Tze, the Tao te Ching was assembled. The myths and legends of the Norsemen again were an orally transmitted tradition, in a culture in which poetry was highly prized: some of this vibrant oral culture survives having been written down many centuries later (in the Elder Edda, for example).