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Humans began to develop writing systems sometime in the 30th century BC in ancient Mesopotamia, which included the Sumerian, Akkadian, and ancient Egyptian civilizations. Although the earliest examples of written text date back to around 2600 BC, these early works were written on stone tablets. It is believed that literature and writing were first developed between the 7th and 4th millennium BC.
Starting with the basics of writing, an incredible variety of materials have been used to record text, including clay, silk, pottery, papyrus, even coffins – so the question of the oldest surviving book depends a lot on how you classify it.
The question may also concern the nature of the book. Some scholars believe that an important book should contain a world view that distinguishes it from mere accounting or administrative records.
We have tried to put together what we hope is an interesting collection of the world’s oldest surviving books. The exact years of writing are almost impossible to ascertain, and they are all approximate, yet we cover everything from the earliest surviving printed works to the oldest surviving books in existence.
We present you the 10 most ancient books in the world: handwritten copies preserved on Earth, from which Russian culture and the history of other countries come.
10 Codex Madrid, 900
Discovered in Spain in the 1860s, Madrid Code, also known as Codex Tro-Cortesiana, is one of the few surviving books relating to the pre-Columbian Maya culture around 900-1521 AD.
The book is most likely written in Yucatecan, a group of Maya languages that includes Yucatec, Itza, Lacandon, and Mopan. Experts do not agree on the exact date of the Codex Madrid, although some say it was made before the 16th century Spanish conquest.
The book is currently kept at the Museum of the Americas in Madrid, Spain.
9. Ostromir Gospel, 1056
Ostromir Gospel – the earliest East Slavic handwritten book in the world today. It is written in Old Russian using the Cyrillic alphabet. The special role of the Ostromir Gospel in the spread of Christianity in the previously isolated and pagan East Slavic tribes and, no doubt, in the spread of Slavic literature across the vast expanses.
The Ostromir Gospel is the cradle of Russian literature and culture, and modern studies of this documentary heritage have made a decisive contribution to the formation and further development of international Old Slavonic studies.
8. Diamond Sutra, 868g
Buddhist sacred text,Diamond Sutra”, is considered the oldest surviving dated printed book in the world.
Found in a walled Chinese cave, along with other printed materials, the book consists of Chinese characters printed on a scroll of gray printed paper wrapped along a wooden post.
The book was transcribed by a man named Wong Je in May 868 at the direction of his parents, which is noted at the end of the text.
7. Book of Kells, 800g
Book of Kells is kept in the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland, and is believed to have been created by Celtic monks around 800 AD.
The book is notable for its elaborate and extravagant ornamentation and is one of the finest examples of an illustrated manuscript. It contains the four Gospels from the New Testament and consists of 340 calfskin leaves.
The book was named after the Abbey of Kells, where it has been located for many centuries – it is currently on permanent display at the Trinity College Library in Dublin, Ireland.
6. Cuthbert’s Gospel, 700
Gospel of Saint Cuthbert is the oldest surviving European book and dates from around the 7th century. The book is a copy of the Gospel of John and was named after Saint Cuthbert, in whose coffin the book was placed some time after his death.
After the book was rediscovered, it was privately owned until it was donated to the Jesuit community in Belgium in 1769.
The book has been on loan to the British Library in London since 1979 and they are now the current owners as they managed to raise around $14 million to buy the book from the Jesuits.
5. Codex Sinaiticus, 400
Otherwise known as Sinai Bible, Codex Sinaiticus, with its sister text the Vatican Codex (which dates from around the same time), is the most important resource used to determine the composition of the original Christian Bible. Approximately half of the Old Testament, along with the complete New Testament and other anonic and non-canonical works (such as Hermas the Shepherd) are known from Codex Sinaiticus.
It was written in Greek at the end of the reign of Constantine the Great, designed as a quart and discovered in 1761 in the monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt.
Most of the Code is currently in the British Library in London, while the Vatican Code is (as the name suggests) in the Vatican.
4. Papyrus codices, 400g
Nag Hammadi Library (she is also papyrus codices) is a collection of 13 codecs buried in a sealed jar, which were found in 1945 by a farmer named Mohammed al-Samman in the Egyptian city of Nag Hammadi.
The letters found in the codices are mostly about Gnostic treatises, but also a partial translation of Plato’s Republic. One of the codices contains the only known complete text of the Gospel of Thomas.
The codices are believed to date between the 3rd and 4th centuries and are believed to have been buried and hidden after Saint Athanasius banned the use of non-canonical books in 367 AD. Since their discovery, the codes have influenced modern studies of early Christianity and Gnosticism.
3. Gospels of Garima, 330g
Gospels of Garima are two gospel books from the monastery of Abba Garima in Ethiopia, which are the oldest known complete illustrated Christian manuscripts. Until the last decade, scholars have always believed that both books date from the 11th century, but recent carbon studies indicate that these books date between 330 and 650 AD.
According to the monks at the Abba Garima Monastery, books have been kept in the monastery since their founding. They also believe that the books were written by Abba Garima, the Byzantine king who founded the monastery.
Both books were restored sometime in the last decade by a British bookbinder with money from the Ethiopian Heritage Fund, a British charity that helps preserve artifacts found in Ethiopian monasteries.
2. Golden tablets from Pirga, 480 BC
Found in 1964 during excavations at a sanctuary in ancient Pirgi, Italy, three gold leaves date back to 500 BC.
Scientists think they were once related to each other. Two are written in an Etruscan text, and one is written in Phoenician, about the dedication of King Fearius Velian to the Phoenician goddess Astarte.
The golden tablets from Pirgi are now on display at the National Etruscan Museum in Rome, Italy.
1. Etruscan Golden Book, 660 BC
Etruscan golden book, believed to be the oldest multi-page book in the world, dating back to around 660 BC, was discovered 70 years ago while excavating a canal near the Struma River in Bulgaria.
The book is made of 6 sheets of 24 carat gold, fastened with rings. The texts are written in Etruscan hieroglyphs, and also depict a horse, rider, siren, lyre and soldiers. The book was donated to the National History Museum of Bulgaria in Sofia by an anonymous 87-year-old donor.