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.
1700–1601 BC
1 work
c. 1700 BC; Sumerian original earlier
Akkadian
Anonymous
Ishtar goes down to the land of no return and is stripped of one garment at each of seven gates until she stands naked before her sister and is hung on a hook. While she is below, no bull mounts a cow and no man lies with a woman, and she is ransomed only by sending Dumuzi down in her place.
301–400
1 work
c. 350–400; earlier traditions behind it
Greek
The Acts of Pilate
Anonymous
A trial record and its sequel. In the first part the standards bow of their own accord as Jesus is brought in, and witnesses the gospels only name — Nicodemus, the bleeding woman, the man born blind — come forward to testify. In the second, two sons of Simeon rise from the dead to describe what happened below: Hades and Satan quarrelling as a voice orders the everlasting gates lifted up, and Adam led out by the hand.
2 of 1774 works