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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.

2400–2301 BC

The Twenty-Fourth Century BC

1 work

c. 2400 BC

Egyptian

The Instruction of Ptahhotep

Attributed to Ptahhotep

An ageing vizier asks permission to train a successor and sets down thirty-seven maxims: do not be proud of your knowledge, take counsel with the ignorant as with the wise, good speech is more hidden than malachite yet found among servant girls at the grindstones.

Egyptian · WisdomProverbsEcclesiastesRead elsewhere