First History Book

[egneg]

What is the earliest example of a history book?

[priveet]

The earliest example of written history is thought to be the Sumerian clay tablets from 3500 BC. These are often referred to as the earliest 'books'.
Or do you really want to know about books as we know them today ?

[egneg]

Thanks - I was curious to know who first started recording interpretations of things past so, by my reckoning, tablets count as books.

[mikewith]

Herodotus is often described as the earliest, or first, historian of the Western tradition. Herodotus of Halicarnassus, born c.484 BC, much information at: http://www.herodotuswebsite.co.uk/

[Quizmonster]

If you're prepared to 'invest' 45p, buy a copy of this very day's 'Times'. In the small 'T2' supplement, on Page 20, you'll find a review of a new book called 'Empires of the Plain' by Lesley Adkins.

The reviewer writes about the decipherment of ancient writings, such as Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Sumerian cuneiform - which is what 'Empires of the Plain' is all about - Cretan Linear B and Mayan glyphs. Those achievements, he claims, took 'history-writing' to some 3000 years BC, whereas Herodotus was much more recent.

If you're interested in further study in this area, the reviewer, Andrew Robinson, recommends 'The Keys of Egypt' also by Lesley Adkins. His own offering, 'Lost Languages' is mentioned, too. (If your local library does not have these books, they can usually be ordered by the library at a cost to you of about 50p!) Good luck.

[answerbok]

taking the p. now QM, well done! :-)

[d+dwidow]

Would cave art count as a form of historical writing?

[darth vader]

the bible

[Quizmonster]

There are various theories as to when 'Genesis' - the earliest of the Books of the Bible - was written, but none of these seem to suggest any date prior to 1500BC and some as recently as 500 BC. The events described therein may well relate to much earlier times, but the actual writing of the Bible is literally thousands of years post cuneiform records.

So, whilst Bible history might conceivably be the oldest, the actual written account of it - ie the 'history book' - isn't.