What is the oldest verifiably correctly translated written work?
score:14
Writing emerged from indecipherable protowriting in the 4th millennium BC. Here's a really cool graph of the earliest dates we can ascribe to writing systems, from a long analysis of the question:
The oldest "written work", in the sense of visual symbols with a modicum of abstraction from being mere pictograms, is from Egypt circa 3400 BC. "Oldest writings, and inventory tags of Egypt". (simple write-up here) There are tablets of similar age in Sumer. We can "translate" both, but it's not too hard as they are just one or two words.
The oldest grammatical works, meaning documents with sentences on them, are the Kesh temple hymn and the Instructions of Shuruppak, written on clay tablets in 2600 BC. (details)
Various other 3rd millennium BC literatures are listed on Wikipedia.
Upvote:1
I forgot the museum (maybe the Metropolitan of NY) where I saw a written text that claimed to be the oldest known. It was just a piece of archaic cuneiform that said something like " has given to me X amount of grain". Quite boring, but most oldest text are just for accountants.
Upvote:3
Avery documents some of the oldest documents known, however, it should be noted that those examples have conjectural dates because it is hard to date the contexts accurately and the documents themselves are vague. The Pyramid Texts (circa 2400 BC) are in many ways the most notable old written texts, not only because they are in a datable context (the Old Kingdom pyramids themselves), but because the texts are extensive. Unfortunately the Pyramid Texts are of a mystical character, not historical, but nevertheless the use of sophisticated words and terms has given scientists much information about the earliest forms of Egyptian language. There are many ambiguities and question marks in the translation of both the Pyramid Texts and the Elamite/Akkadian texts, but the gist of them is known.
There have been attempts to translate neolithic inscriptions (see for example "Ice Age Language: Translations, Grammar, and Vocabulary" by Dr. Robert Duncan Enzmann), but that would probably fall into the category of "unverifiable translations".
Upvote:6
The oldest texts that have been successfully deciphered are from Sumer (Southern Iraq) and Egypt. In both countries decipherable writing begins around 2700 BC.
More post
- 📝 How did bank transactions (or "data" transactions) work when it took people weeks to travel vast distances?
- 📝 How popular was the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Origin of "It won't be done by next Tuesday"
- 📝 Why aren't ICBMs (and missiles in general) built using stealth technology?
- 📝 What happened to the King Bar in Saigon?
- 📝 Why did the maize-based society that Spain found in the Central Valley of Mexico not dominate over Europe?
- 📝 What did they call Gothic and Baroque architecture before the modern terms came into use?
- 📝 Why did the Soviet Union have multiple airplane manufacturers?
- 📝 What was the personal philosophy of Alexander the Great in his youth?
- 📝 How did Poland fare under "personal unions?"
- 📝 Epoch of an item marked with anchor symbol with the letters N and D
- 📝 Which operating system were the hackers at the MIT AI Lab using in 1971?
- 📝 Did a capital ship ever hit anything with a torpedo?
- 📝 Which was the first war in which photography was employed?
- 📝 What happened in Rome, when the western empire "fell"?
- 📝 How many Western Roman rump states were there?
- 📝 What was the city of El Mirador called in Mayan?
- 📝 How were cities administered in the early Byzantine Empire?
- 📝 Were there any attempts to assassinate Joseph Stalin?
- 📝 How could West Berlin had access West Germany/world while the wall was up?
- 📝 What was the significance of the Schleswig-Holstein question in the 19th century?
- 📝 How much faster were the printing presses than hand writing?
- 📝 Did the Romans pour wine down wells for health purposes?
- 📝 How did the king give land to new barons without taking it from the old ones?
- 📝 Did the cold war affect the development of the internet?
- 📝 Is there any data that supports or refutes the claim made in this paper about the Harappan/Indus Valley civilization?
- 📝 Could a nobleman's land be enclosed within another noble's land?
- 📝 Did Reza Shah Pehlavi know about Turkish offer to restore Ahmad Shah Qajar?
- 📝 What is the history of the Roman ogee shape?
- 📝 How does the amount of equipment carried by various historical infantries compare?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 What is the oldest verifiably correctly translated written work?
- 📝 What is the oldest known work of fiction?
- 📝 What is the age of the oldest written proof of Christianity?
- 📝 What is the oldest building in the world still in use?
- 📝 What is the oldest authentic example of people complaining about modern times and the young?
- 📝 What is the oldest European royal house?
- 📝 What is the oldest road tunnel in the world?
- 📝 What is the oldest recorded cat name?
- 📝 What is the oldest musical composition that can still be listened to today?
- 📝 What is the oldest known international sporting event?
- 📝 What was the primary motivation for a historical figure like Xenophon to create an extensive collection of written material?
- 📝 What corrections did the Catholic church make to the Copernicus work "De revolutionibus"?
- 📝 What is the oldest state/nation that has abolished the death penalty?
- 📝 What language was the Charter of Liberties written in?
- 📝 What is the connection between the rise of modern football in the UK and the shortening of the work week?
- 📝 What is the oldest road in the world that has been in continuous use?
- 📝 What is the oldest known board game for 3+ people?
- 📝 What is the oldest movie theater in the US that has been in continuous use as a movie theater?
- 📝 What is the oldest excavated/discovered piece of silk textile made for clothing or writing?
- 📝 What was the earliest known written constitution?
- 📝 What is the oldest inscription of Yahweh found?
- 📝 What are the earliest written accounts of Sub-Saharan Africa from the outside?
- 📝 What are the oldest primary sources of recorded history in China?
- 📝 What was the first book translated from Japanese to any of the European languages?
- 📝 What military power would ever pre-announce an attack to give the enemy time to work up a defense?
- 📝 What is the oldest example of conurbation?
- 📝 What is the oldest discovered Neanderthal boat or raft?
- 📝 What is the oldest quote or poem in known history?
- 📝 What is the earliest written date?
- 📝 What is the oldest graphic depiction of Attila?