The Library
1774 works catalogued century by century, from the literature the Bible was written among to the present — each with a note on what it is, why it lasted, and where to read it.
1900–1801 BC
1 work
c. 1875 BC
Egyptian
Anonymous
A court official flees Egypt on hearing of the king's death, settles among the Asiatics of Retjenu, prospers, marries a chief's daughter, kills a champion in single combat — and grows old longing to be buried at home, until the pharaoh writes and calls him back.
1400–1301 BC
3 works
c. 1400 BC
Ugaritic
Ilimilku the scribe
Baal the rider on the clouds defeats Yam the sea and Lotan the twisting serpent, wins a palace with a window in it, and is then swallowed by Mot, death itself — until Anat splits Mot with a blade, winnows him, and Baal returns and the heavens rain oil.
c. 1400 BC
Ugaritic
Ilimilku the scribe
A king who has lost his whole household weeps until El appears in a dream and tells him to march on a distant city and demand its princess. He does, and is granted sons — then falls mortally ill, and his son asks how a son of El can possibly die.
c. 1360–1330 BC
Akkadian
The kings and governors of the Late Bronze Age
Three hundred and eighty-two clay tablets from the Egyptian foreign office: the great kings of Babylon and Mitanni haggling over gold and marriages, and the petty rulers of Canaan begging for archers against raiders and rivals. The mayor of Jerusalem writes six times and gets nothing.
4 of 1774 works