Ancient literature

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, stone 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. One can conclude that an unknown number of written works too have likely not survived the ravages of time and are therefore lost.

Incomplete list of ancient texts

Bronze Age

Early Bronze Age: 3rd millennium BC (approximate dates shown). The earliest written literature dates from about 2600 BC (classical Sumerian). The earliest literary author known by name is Enheduanna, a Sumerian priestess and public figure dating to ca. 24th century BC.
Certain literary texts are difficult to date, such as the ''Egyptian Book of the Dead'', which was recorded in the ''Papyrus of Ani'' around 1240 BC, but other versions of the book probably date from about the 18th century BC.
* 2600: Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the ''Instructions of Shuruppak'' and the '' Kesh temple hymn''
* 2600: Egyptian ''The Life of Metjen'', from SaqqaraToby A. H. Wilkinson: ''Early Dynastic Egypt''. Routledge, London/New York 2001, .
* 2500: Egyptian Diary of Merer (Oldest papyrus)
* 2400: Egyptian ''Pyramid Texts'', including the '' Cannibal Hymn''
* 2400: Sumerian '' Code of Urukagina''
* 2400: Egyptian '' Palermo stone''
* 2350: Egyptian ''The Maxims of Ptahhotep''
* 2270: Sumerian '' Enheduanna's Hymns''
* 2250: Egyptian ''Autobiography of Weni''
* 2250-2000: Earliest Sumerian stories in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''
* 2200: Egyptian ''Autobiography of Harkhuf''
* 2100: Sumerian '' Curse of Agade''
* 2100: Sumerian ''Debate between Bird and Fish''
* 2050: Sumerian '' Code of Ur-Nammu''
* 2000: Egyptian '' Coffin Texts''
* 2000: Sumerian ''Lament for Ur''
* 2000: Sumerian ''Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta''

Middle Bronze Age: ca. 2000 to 1600 BC (approximate dates shown)
* 2000-1900: Egyptian ''Tale of the Shipwrecked Sailor''
* 1950: Akkadian ''Laws of Eshnunna''
* 1900: Akkadian ''Legend of Etana''
* 1900: Sumerian '' Code of Lipit-Ishtar''
* 1859-1840: Egyptian ''The Eloquent Peasant''
* 1859-1840: Egyptian ''Story of Sinuhe'' (in Hieratic)
* 1859-1840: Egyptian ''Dispute between a man and his Ba''
* 1859-1813: Egyptian '' Loyalist Teaching''
* 1850: Akkadian '' Kultepe texts''
* 1800: Akkadian '' Enûma Eliš''
* 1780: Akkadian Mari letters, including the '' Epic of Zimri-Lim''
* 1754: Akkadian '' Code of Hammurabi'' stele
* 1750: Hittite ''Anitta text''
* 1700: Akkadian '' Atra-Hasis epic''
* 1700: Egyptian ''Westcar Papyrus''
* 1700: Akkadian ''Epic of Gilgamesh''
* 1650: Egyptian ''Ipuwer Papyrus''
* 1600: Akkadian '' Eridu Genesis''

Late Bronze Age: ca. 1600 to 1200 BC (approximate dates shown)
* 1600: Hittite ''Code of the Nesilim''
* 1500: Akkadian ''Poor Man of Nippur''
* 1500: Hittite military oath
* 1500-1200: Ugaritic ''Legend of Keret''
* 1550: ''Egyptian Book of the Dead''
* 1500: Akkadian ''Dynasty of Dunnum''
* 1400: Akkadian ''Marriage of Nergal and Ereshkigal''
* 1400: Akkadian ''Autobiography of Kurigalzu''
* 1400: Akkadian Amarna letters
* 1330: Egyptian ''Great Hymn to the Aten''
* 1240: Egyptian ''Papyrus of Ani'', Book of the Dead
* 1200-900: Akkadian version and younger stories in the ''Epic of Gilgamesh''
* 1200: Akkadian '' Tukulti-Ninurta Epic''
* 1200: Egyptian '' Tale of Two Brothers''

Iron Age

Iron Age texts predating Classical Antiquity: 12th to 8th centuries BC
* 1200–800: BC approximate date of the Vedic Sanskrit
**Yajurveda
** Atharvaveda
** Samaveda
* 1050: BC Egyptian '' Story of Wenamun''
* 1050: BC Akkadian ''Sakikkū'' (SA.GIG) "Diagnostic Omens" by Esagil-kin-apli.
* 1050: BC The ''Babylonian Theodicy'' of Šaggil-kīnam-ubbib.
* 1000: BC Chinese ''Classic of Poetry (Shījīng)''
* 1000: BC Akkadian '' Dialogue of Pessimism''
* 900: BC Akkadian '' Epic of Erra''
* 900: BC Vedic Sanskrit ''Aranyaka''

Classical Antiquity

9th century BC

*''Classic of Changes (I Ching)''

8th century BC

* Greek Trojan War cycle, including the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey''
* 800–500 BC: Vedic Sanskrit
** Brahmanas
**Brihadaranyaka Upanishad
**Isha Upanishad
** Chandogya Upanishad
** Aitareya Upanishad
**Taittiriya Upanishad

7th century BC

* Vedic Sanskrit
**Shulba Sutra (containing geometry related to fire-altar construction)
*** Manava Sulbasutra
*** Baudhayana sutra
** Shatapatha Brahmana – Commentary on the Vedas
** Nirukta (technical treatise on etymology, lexical category and the semantics of Sanskrit words)
** Kausitaka Upanishad
* ''Greek:''
** Hesiod: The ''Theogony'' and ''Works and Days''
** Archilochus
** Alcman
** Semonides of Amorgos
** Solon
** Mimnermus
** Stesichorus
* '' Paleo-Hebrew alphabet''
** Ketef Hinnom amulets, the oldest found Biblical text ( amulets with the Priestly Blessing, which are recorded in the Book of Numbers)
*'' Classic of Documents (Shūjīng)'' (authentic portions)

6th century BC

* ''Persian:''
**''Cyrus Cylinder''
* Sanskrit:
** Sushruta: Sushruta Samhita (Book on Surgery and Medicine)
** Kapila: Samkhya-sutra, Kapilanyayabhasa, Kapila Gita, Dṛṣṭantara Yoga
**Kanada: Vaiśeṣika Sūtra (Book on Atomism)
**
**Kashyapa Samhita, Kashyapa Samhhita (Book on Medicine)
**Pratishakhyas
* ''Greek:''
** Sappho
** Ibycus
** Alcaeus of Mytilene
** Aesop's Fables

5th century BC

* Sanskrit:
**Pāṇini:''Pāṇini#Aṣṭādhyāyī, Aṣṭādhyāyī''
** Kenopanishad
**Apastamba Dharmasutra, Apastamba'': Apastamba Dharmasutra'''', Apastamba Smriti, Apastambha Smriti''
* ''Avestan:'' ''Yasht''
* ''Chinese:''
** ''Spring and Autumn Annals (Chūnqiū)'' (722–481 BC, chronicles of the state of Lu (state), Lu)
** Confucius: ''Analects (Lúnyǔ)''
** ''Book of Rites, Classic of Rites (Lǐjì)''
** ''Zuo Zhuan, Commentaries of Zuo (Zuǒzhuàn)''
** Mozi: ''Mozi (book) (Mòzǐ)''
** Sun Tzu: ''The Art of War (Sūnzǐ Bīngfǎ)''
* ''Greek:''
** Pindar: Odes
** Herodotus: ''The Histories of Herodotus''
** Thucydides: ''History of the Peloponnesian War''
** Aeschylus: The Suppliants (Aeschylus), ''The Suppliants'', ''The Persians'', ''Seven Against Thebes'', ''Oresteia''
** Sophocles: ''Oedipus Rex'', ''Oedipus at Colonus'', Antigone (Sophocles), ''Antigone'', ''Electra (Sophocles), Electra'' and other plays
** Euripides: Alcestis (play), ''Alcestis'', ''Medea (play), Medea'', ''Heracleidae (play), Heracleidae'', ''Hippolytus (play), Hippolytus'', ''Andromache (play), Andromache'', ''Hecuba (play), Hecuba'', ''The Suppliants (Euripides), The Suppliants'', ''Electra (Euripides), Electra'', ''Heracles (Euripides), Heracles'', ''Trojan Women'', ''Iphigeneia in Tauris'', ''Ion (play), Ion'', ''Helen (play), Helen'', ''Phoenician Women'', ''Orestes (play), Orestes'', ''The Bacchae, Bacchae'', ''Iphigeneia at Aulis'', ''Cyclops (play), Cyclops'', ''Rhesus (play), Rhesus''
** Aristophanes: ''The Acharnians'', ''The Knights'', ''The Clouds'', ''The Wasps'', ''Peace (play), Peace'', ''The Birds (play), The Birds'', ''Lysistrata'', ''Thesmophoriazusae'', ''The Frogs'', ''Assemblywomen, Ecclesiazousae'', ''Plutus (play), Plutus''
* ''Hebrew'': date of the extant text of the Torah

4th century BC

* Sanskrit:
** Katha Upanishad
** Prashnopanishad
** Mundaka Upanishad
** Mandukya Upanishad, Māṇḍūkya Upanishad
**Bhadrabahu: ''Kalpa Sūtra''
**Chanakya, ChankayaArthashastra, : ''Arthshastra'''', Chanakya, Chanakya Neeti''
**Shalihotra, Salihotra: Shalihotra, ''Shalihotra Samhita'' (treatise on veterinary medicine)
**Vyasa'': Mahabharata, Puranas, Brahma Sutras''
**Jaimini: ''Mimamsa Sutras, Jaimini Sutras, Ashvamedhika Parva''
**Valmiki : ''Ramayana''
**BhāsaSvapnavasavadattam, : ''Svapnavāsavadattam'''', Pancharātra, Pancarātra, Bhāsa, Pratijna Yaugandharayaanam, Bhāsa, Pratimanātaka, Bhāsa, Abhishekanātaka, Bhāsa, Bālacharita, Karnabharam, Karnabhāram, Bhāsa, Dūtaghaṭotkaca, Charudatta Aphale, Chārudatta, Madhyamavyayoga and Urubhanga.''
* ''Pali literature, Pali'': Tipitaka
* ''Hebrew:'' Book of Job, beginning of Hebrew wisdom literature
* ''Chinese:''
** Laozi (or Lao Tzu): ''Tao Te Ching''
** Zhuang Zhou, Zhuangzi: ''Zhuangzi (book)''
** Mencius: ''Mencius (book), Mencius''
** Shang Yang: ''The Book of Lord Shang (Shāng jūn shū)''
* ''Persian:''
**DNa inscription
* ''Greek:''
**Xenophon: ''Anabasis (Xenophon), Anabasis'', ''Cyropaedia (Xenophon), Cyropaedia, Oeconomicus, Memorabilia (Xenophon), Memorabilia''
** Aristotle: ''Nicomachean Ethics, Metaphysics, Organon, Physics (Aristotle), Physics, History of Animals, Historia Animalium, Parts of Animals, De Partibus Animalium, Movement of Animals, De Motu Animalium, On the Universe, De Mundo, On the Heavens, De Caelo, Poetics (Aristotle), Poetics, Politics (Aristotle), Politics, Magna Moralia''
** Plato: ''Euthyphro'', ''Plato's Apology, Apology'', ''Crito'', ''Theaetetus (dialogue), Theaetetus'', ''Parmenides (dialogue), Parmenides'', ''Symposium (Plato), Symposium'', ''Phaedrus (Plato), Phaedrus'', ''Protagoras (dialogue), Protagoras'', ''Gorgias (dialogue), Gorgias'', ''Meno'', ''Plato's Republic, Republic'', ''Timaeus (dialogue), Timaeus, Critias (dialogue), Critias, Laws (dialogue), Laws, Menexenus (dialogue), Menexenus, Phaedo, Lysis (dialogue), Lysis, First Alcibiades, Alcibiades I, Second Alcibiades, Alcibiades II, Hippias Minor, Hippias minor, Epinomis, Minos (dialogue), Minos, Hipparchus (dialogue), Hipparchus''
** Euclid: ''Euclid's Elements, Elements''
** Menander: ''Dyskolos''
** Theophrastus: ''Historia Plantarum (Theophrastus), Enquiry into Plants''

3rd century BC

* ''Avestan'': ''Avesta''
* ''Etruscan language#Corpus, Etruscan:'' ''Liber Linteus Zagrabiensis (Linen Book of Zagreb)''
* ''Sanskrit'':
** Pingala: ''Pingala, Chandaḥśāstra''
**Moggaliputta-Tissa: Kathavatthu, ''Kathāvatthu''
**Kātyāyana: ''Vārttikakāra, Śulbasūtras''
**Vishnu Sharma: ''Panchatantra''
** Vedanga Jyotisha
**Bharata Muni: Natya Shastra (A theoretical treatise on classical Indian dance and drama)
**
* ''Sinhala language, Sinhalese'' (''Elu''): Sīhalattakathā or Hela Atuwā (''Pali'' commentaries of Buddhist teachings that were translated into Sinhala language, Sinhalese after the introduction of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, Buddhism to Sri Lanka)
*''Tamil literature, Tamil:''
** 3rd century BC to 3rd century AD: ''Sangam literature, Sangam poems''
** ''Tolkāppiyam'' (grammar book)
**Korakkar(3rd century BC),Siddhar, Physician, Philosopher
**Bogar(3rd century BC)Siddhar, Physician, Yogi
**''Agattiyam''
**
* ''Hebrew'': Ecclesiastes
* ''Greek'':
** Apollonius of Rhodes: ''Argonautica''
** Callimachus (310/305-240 B.C.), lyric poet
** Manetho: ''Aegyptiaca''
** Theocritus, lyric poet
* ''Old Latin, Latin'':
** Lucius Livius Andronicus ( — ), translator, founder of Roman drama
** Gnaeus Naevius ( — 201 BC), dramatist, epic poet
** Titus Maccius Plautus ( — 184 BC), dramatist, composer of comedies: ''Poenulus'', Miles Gloriosus (play), ''Miles Gloriosus'', and other plays
** Quintus Fabius Pictor (3rd century BC), historian
** Lucius Cincius Alimentus (3rd century BC), military historian and antiquarian

2nd century BC

* ''Sanskrit''
** Patanjali(Founder of Yoga School of Philosophy):''Mahābhāṣya(Treatise on grammar and linguistics),Patanjalatantra(medical text), Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, Yoga sūtras''
**Badrayana(Founder of Vedanta School of Philosophy):''Brahma Sutras''
**Manu:''Manusmriti(''Laws of Manu'')''
**
* ''Avestan:'' ''Vendidad''
* ''Chinese:'' Sima Qian: ''Records of the Grand Historian (Shǐjì)''
* ''Aramaic'': Book of Daniel
* ''Hebrew'': Sirach
* ''Greek''
** Polybius: ''The Histories (Polybius), The Histories''
** Book of Wisdom
** Septuagint
* ''Latin'':
** Terence (195/185 BC — 159 BC), comic dramatist: ''Adelphoe, The Brothers'', ''Andria (comedy), The Girl from Andros'', ''Eunuchus'', ''Heauton Timorumenos, The Self-Tormentor''
** Quintus Ennius (239 BC — ), poet
** Marcus Pacuvius ( — 130 BC), tragic dramatist, poet
** Statius Caecilius (220 BC — 168/166 BC), comic dramatist
** Cato the Elder, Marcius Porcius Cato (234 BC — 149 BC), generalist, topical writer
** Gaius Acilius (2nd century BC), historian
** Lucius Accius (170 BC — ), tragic dramatist, philologist
** Gaius Lucilius ( — 103/2 BC), satirist
** Quintus Lutatius Catulus (2nd century BC), public officer, epigrammatist
** Aulus Furius Antias (2nd century BC), poet
** Gaius Julius Caesar Strabo Vopiscus (130 BC — 87 BC), public officer, tragic dramatist
** Lucius Pomponius Bononiensis (2nd century BC), comic dramatist, satirist
** Lucius Cassius Hemina (2nd century BC), historian
** Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133 BC), Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (2nd century BC), historian
** Manius Manilius (2nd century BC), public officer, jurist
** Lucius Coelius Antipater (2nd century BC), jurist, historian
** Publius Sempronius Asellio (158 BC — after 91 BC), military officer, historian
** Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (consul 129 BC), Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (2nd century BC), jurist
** Lucius Afranius (poet), Lucius Afranius (2nd & 1st centuries BC), comic dramatist
** Titus Albucius (2nd & 1st centuries BC), orator
** Publius Rutilius Rufus (158 BC — after 78 BC), jurist
** Quintus Lutatius Catulus (2nd & 1st centuries BC), public officer, poet
** Lucius Aelius Stilo Praeconinus (154 BC — 74 BC), philologist
** Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius (2nd & 1st centuries BC), historian
** Valerius Antias (2nd & 1st centuries BC), historian
** Lucius Cornelius Sisenna (121 BC — 67 BC), soldier, historian
** Quintus Cornificius (2nd & 1st centuries BC), rhetorician

1st century BC

* ''Pali'' (Sri Lanka)'': Pāli Canon, Pāli Tripiṭaka'' (Written under the patronage of Valagamba of Anuradhapura, King Vattagamani of Anuradhapura in Aluvihare Rock Temple, Aluhihare, Matale)
* ''Latin:''
** Cicero: ''Catiline Orations'', ''Pro Caelio'', ''Dream of Scipio''
** Julius Caesar: ''Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Gallic Wars'', ''Commentarii de Bello Civili, Civil War''
** Virgil: ''Eclogues'', ''Georgics'' and ''Aeneid''
** Lucretius: ''On the Nature of Things''
** Livy: ''History of Rome (Livy), History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita)''

1st century AD

* ''Sanskrit''
** Śabara, Śabara:S''ābara-bhāṣyam''
**Gunadhara:''Kasayapahuda''
**Aśvaghoṣa:''Buddhacharita'' (Acts of the Buddha),''Saundarananda, Sutralankara''
* ''Chinese:'' Ban Gu: ''Book of Han (Hànshū)''
* ''Greek:''
** Plutarch: ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans''
** Josephus: ''The Jewish War'', ''Antiquities of the Jews'', ''Against Apion''
** The books of the New Testament of the Christian Bible and the ''Didache''
* ''Latin:'' see Classical Latin
** Tacitus: ''Germania (book), Germania''
** Ovid: ''Metamorphoses''; also ''Tristia'' and ''Epistulae ex Ponto'' written during Exile of Ovid, his exile
** Pliny the Elder: ''Natural History (Pliny), Natural History''
** Petronius: ''Satyricon''
** Seneca the Younger: ''Phaedra (Seneca), Phaedra'', Dialogues
** Statius: ''Thebaid (Latin poem), Thebaid''; also ''Silvae'' and unfinished ''Achilleid''

2nd century

* ''Sanskrit:'' Aśvaghoṣa: ''Buddhacharita (Acts of the Buddha)''
* ''Pahlavi:''
** ''Yadegar-e Zariran (Memorial of Zarēr)''
** ''Visperad''
** ''Drakht-i Asurig (The Babylonian Tree)''
* ''Greek'':
** Arrian: ''Anabasis Alexandri''
** Marcus Aurelius: ''Meditations''
** Epictetus and Arrian: ''Enchiridion of Epictetus, Enchiridion''
** Ptolemy: ''Almagest''
** Athenaeus: ''Deipnosophistae, The Banquet of the Learned''
** Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias: ''Description of Greece''
** Longus: ''Daphnis and Chloe''
** Lucian: ''True History''
** ''The Shepherd of Hermas''
* ''Latin:'' see Classical Latin
** Apuleius: ''The Golden Ass''
** Lucius Ampelius: ''Liber Memorialis''
** Suetonius: ''Lives of the Twelve Caesars''
** Tertullian: ''Apologeticus''

3rd century

* ''Avestan'': ''Avesta#The Khordeh Avesta, Khordeh Avesta'' (Zoroastrian prayer book)
* ''Pahlavi:'' Mani (prophet), Mani: ''Shabuhragan'' (Manichaeism, Manichaean holy book)
* ''Chinese:''
** Chen Shou: ''Records of Three Kingdoms (Sānguó Zhì)''
** Zhang Hua: ''Bowuzhi''
* ''Greek:'' Plotinus: ''Enneads''
* ''Latin:'' see Late Latin
** Distichs of Cato
* ''Hebrew:'' Mishnah
*''Pali'' (Sri Lanka)'': Dīpavaṃsa''

Late Antiquity

4th century

* ''Latin:'' see Late Latin
** Augustine of Hippo: ''Confessions (St. Augustine), Confessions'', ''On Christian Doctrine''
** Faltonia Betitia Proba: ''Cento Vergilianus de laudibus Christi'' ("A Virgilian Cento (poetry), Cento Concerning the Glory of Christ")
** ''Apicius'' (''De re coquinaria'', "On the Subject of Cooking")
** ''Pervigilium Veneris'' ("Vigil of Venus")
* ''Sanskrit''
**''Asanga:Dharma-dharmata-vibhaga(Distinguishing Phenomena and Pure Being), Mahāyānasaṃgraha (Summary of the Great Vehicle)''
**Vasubandhu:''Vasubandhu, Verses on the Treasury of the Abhidharma, Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (Explanation of the Five Aggregates), Vasubandhu, Pañcaskandhaprakaraṇa (Explanation of the Five Aggregates),Vyākhyāyukti ("Proper Mode of Exposition"), Vasubandhu, Vādavidhi ("Rules for Debate"), Vasubandhu, Dharmadharmatāvibhāgavṛtti (Commentary on Distinguishing Elements from Reality), Vasubandhu, Madhyāntavibhāgabhāṣya (Commentary on Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes), Vasubandhu, Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkārabhāṣya (Commentary on the Ornament to the Great Vehicle Discourses)''
**Dignāga:''Pramāṇa-samuccaya'' (''Compendium of Valid Cognition''),''Hetucakra'' (''The wheel of reason'')
**Haribhadra, Haribhadra:''Anekāntajayapatākā'' [The ''Victory Banner of Anekantavada (Relativism'')],''Haribhadra, Dhūrtākhyāna'' (''The Rogue's Stories''),''Yogadṛṣṭisamuccaya'' (''An Array of Views on Yoga''),''Haribhadra, Ṣaḍdarśanasamuccaya (''Compendium of Six Philosophies'')''
* ''Syriac:'' Aphrahat, Ephrem the Syrian
* ''Aramaic:'' Jerusalem Talmud
*''Pali'' (Sri Lanka)'': Mahāvaṃsa''

5th century

* ''Armenian:''
** Movses Khorenatsi, Movses Khorenatsi (historian): ''History of Armenia (book), History of Armenia''
* ''Chinese:''
** Bao Zhao: ''Fu (poetry), Fu on the Ruined City'' (蕪城賦, ''Wú chéng fù'')
** Fan Ye (historian), Fan Ye: ''Book of the Later Han'' (後漢書, ''Hòuhànshū'')
* ''Sanskrit:''
** Kālidāsa (speculated): ''Abhijñānaśākuntalam'' (अभिज्ञान शाकुन्तलम्, "The Recognition of Shakuntala"), ''Meghadūta'' (मेघदूत, "Cloud Messenger"), ''Vikramōrvaśīyam'' (विक्रमोर्वशीयम्, "Urvashi Won by Valour", play)
**Pujyapada:''Pujyapada, Iṣṭopadeśa (Divine Sermons), Sarvārthasiddhi (Attainment of Higher Goals), Pujyapada, Jainendra Vyākaraṇa (Jainendra Grammar), Pujyapada, Samādhitantra (Method of SelfContemplation), Pujyapada, Daśabhaktyādisangraha (Collection of Ten Adorations)Pujyapada, ,Śabdāvatāranyāsa (Arrangement of Words and their Forms)''
** Aryabhata: Aryabhatiya
**Nitisara, Kamandaka'':Nitisara''(The Elements of Polity)
**Bodhidharma:''Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices, Two Entrances and Four Practices, Bodhidharma, Treatise on Realizing the Nature, Bodhidharma, Refuting Signs Treatise''
**Bhartṛhari:''Vākyapadīya(Treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistic philosophy), Śatakatraya(The three hundred poems of moral values)''
**SiddhasenaNyāyāvatāra, :''Nyāyāvatāra'''', Siddhasena, Sanmati sutra, Siddhasena, Kalyan Mandir stotra''
**Lokavibhaga, Sarvanandi:Lokavibhaga(Text on Jain Cosmology)
**
* ''Tamil:''
**''Tirukkural (Sacred verses)''
** ''Silappatikaram (The Tale of the Anklet)''
* ''Pahlavi:''
** ''Matigan-i Hazar Datistan (The Thousand Laws of the Magistan)''
** ''Frahang-i Oim-evak'' (Pahlavi-Avestan dictionary)
* ''Pali'' (Sri Lanka)
** Buddhaghosa: ''Visuddhimagga (The Path of Purification)''
* ''Latin:'' see Late Latin
** Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus: ''De Re Militari''
** Augustine of Hippo: ''City of God (book), The City of God''
** Paulus Orosius: ''Seven Books of History Against the Pagans''
** Jerome: ''Vulgate''
** Prudentius: ''Psychomachia''
** Consentius's grammar
** Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite: ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (Περὶ τῆς Οὐρανίας Ἱεραρχίας, "On the Celestial Hierarchy"), ''Mystical Theology''
** Socrates of Constantinople: ''Historia Ecclesiastica''
* ''Greek:''
** Nonnus: ''Dionysiaca''

6th century

* Latin: Boethius, ''De consolatione philosophiae'' ("The Consolation of Philosophy", 524), widely considered to be the last work of classical philosophyDante Alighieri, Dante placed Boethius the "last of the Romans and first of the Scholastics" among the doctors in his Paradise (see ''The Divine Comedy'').
* ''Aramaic:'' Babylonian Talmud
*Sanskrit:
**Varāhamihira:''Pañcasiddhāntikā'' ("[Treatise] on the Five [Astronomical] Siddhanta, Canons"), Varāhamihira, Brihat-Samhita(Great Compilation)Encyclopedic Work
**Yativṛṣabha:Tiloya Panatti(Book on Cosmology and Mathematics)
**Virahanka
**Prabhākara:''Triputipratyaksavada'' ("Doctrine of Triple Perception")
**Dharmakirti:''Dharmakirti, Saṃbandhaparikṣhāvrtti'' (Analysis of Relations),''Dharmakirti, Pramāṇaviniścaya'' (Ascertainment of Valid Cognition),''Dharmakirti, Nyāyabinduprakaraṇa'' (Drop of Logic),''Dharmakirti, Hetubindunāmaprakaraṇa'' (Drop of Reason),''Dharmakirti, Saṃtānāntarasiddhināmaprakaraṇa'' (Proof of Others' Mindstreams)Dharmakirti, ,''Vādanyāyanāmaprakaraṇa'' (Reasoning for Debate)
**Prashastapada, Praśastapāda :''Prashastapada, Padārtha-dharma-saṅgraha'' (Collection of Properties of Matter)
**Bhāviveka:''Bhāviveka, Heart of the Middle, Bhāviveka, Wisdom Lamp''
**Udyotakara, Udyotakara:''Nyāyavārttika''''(Work on logic)''
**Gaudapada:Gaudapada, Mandukya Karika
* ''Sinhalese'':
** Wansaththppakāsinī (''Sinhalese'' translation of the ''Pali'' Mahāvaṃsa)
** Sigiriya, Sigiriya Poems ( Poems written by visitors to the citadel of Sigiriya)
*''Pali'' (Sri Lanka): ''Cūḷavaṃsa''
* ''Irish'': Early Irish literature
** Dallán Forgaill: ''Amra'' (life of St Columba)

See also

* Early Medieval literature
* List of languages by first written accounts
* List of years in literature
* List of oldest documents
* List of Hebrew Bible manuscripts
* Biblical manuscript

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ancient Literature
Ancient literature,
History of literature, 01