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The Library

Forty Centuries of Christian Writing

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.

1300–1201 BC

The Thirteenth Century BC

1 work

copied c. 1250 BC; composed c. 1850–1600 BC

Egyptian

The Admonitions of Ipuwer

Anonymous

A sage describes Egypt turned upside down: the river is blood and men drink of it, plague is throughout the land, the poor now own what the rich had, gold hangs on the necks of slave girls, and there is groaning throughout the land mingled with lamentations.

Egyptian · LamentExodusIsaiahLamentationsRead elsewhere

1101–1200

The Twelfth Century

1 work

1145–1146

Armenian

The Lament on Edessa

Nerses Shnorhali · 1102–1173

The city of Edessa speaks in her own voice, mourning her fall to Zengi and reproaching the Christian powers who did not come.

Armenian · PoetryRead elsewhere

1201–1300

The Thirteenth Century

1 work

c. 1238–1246

Old Church Slavonic

The Tale of the Ruin of the Russian Land

Anonymous

A short fragment recalling the beauty and strength of the land before the Mongol invasion, breaking off before it reaches the disaster itself.

Rus · LamentRead elsewhere

1401–1500

The Fifteenth Century

1 work

c. 1453–1460

Greek

The Lament for Constantinople

Anakalema tes Konstantinopoles

Anonymous

A vernacular lament for the city, addressing the empress of cities directly and describing Hagia Sophia's icons weeping.

Byzantine · PoetryRead elsewhere