Religious text Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! == History of religious texts == {{See also|History of religions|Timeline of religion|History of writing}} One of the oldest known religious texts is the [[Kesh Temple Hymn]] of ancient [[Sumer]],<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kramer|first=Samuel|year=1942|title=The Oldest Literary Catalogue: A Sumerian List of Literary Compositions Compiled about 2000 B.C.|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=88|issue=88|pages=10β19|doi=10.2307/1355474|jstor=1355474|s2cid=163898367}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Sanders|first=Seth|year=2002|title=Old Light on Moses' Shining Face|journal=Vetus Testamentum|volume=52|issue=3|pages=400β406|doi=10.1163/156853302760197520}}</ref> a set of inscribed clay tablets which scholars typically date around 2600 BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X3ALAQAAMAAJ|title=Princess, priestess, poet: the Sumerian temple hymns of Enheduanna|last1=Enheduanna|last2=Meador|first2=Betty De Shong|date=2009-08-01|publisher=University of Texas Press|isbn=9780292719323|language=en}}</ref> The [[Epic of Gilgamesh]] from [[Sumer]], although only considered by some scholars as a religious text, has origins as early as 2150 BCE,<ref name="Dalley2000">{{cite book|author=Stephanie Dalley|title=Myths from Mesopotamia: Creation, The Flood, Gilgamesh, and Others|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0YHfiCz4BRwC|year=2000|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-953836-2|pages=41β45}}</ref> and stands as one of the earliest literary works that includes various [[mythological]] figures and themes of interaction with the divine.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780140449198|url-access=registration|title=The Epic of Gilgamesh: The Babylonian Epic Poem and Other Texts in Akkadian and Sumerian|last=George|first=Andrew|date=2002-12-31|publisher=Penguin |isbn=9780140449198| language=en}}</ref> The [[Rigveda]], a scripture of [[Hinduism]], is dated 1500 BCE. It is one of the oldest known complete religious texts that has survived into the modern age.<ref>Sagarika Dutt (2006). India in a Globalized World. Manchester University Press. p. 36. {{ISBN|978-1-84779-607-3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Shailendra |last2=Choudhury |first2=Sanghamitra |date=2021-01-01 |editor-last=Meissner |editor-first=Richard |title=Ancient Vedic Literature and Human Rights: Resonances and Dissonances |journal=Cogent Social Sciences |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=1858562 |doi=10.1080/23311886.2020.1858562 |issn=2331-1886|doi-access=free }}</ref> There are many possible dates given to the first writings which can be connected to Talmudic and Biblical traditions, the earliest of which is found in scribal documentation of the 8th century BCE,<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://contradictionsinthebible.com/the-yahwist-2/|title=The Yahwist|date=2012-12-23|newspaper=Contradictions in the Bible|language=en-US|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref> followed by administrative documentation from temples of the 5th and 6th centuries BCE,<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F7USWMRAwGYC&q=first+writing+of+torah&pg=PR13|title=Torah in the Mouth: Writing and Oral Tradition in Palestinian Judaism 200 BCE-400 CE|last=Jaffee|first=Martin S.|date=2001-04-19|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780198032236|language=en}}</ref> with another common date being the 2nd century BCE.<ref name=":0" /> High rates of mass production and distribution of religious texts did not begin until the invention of the printing press in 1440,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.historyguide.org/intellect/press.html|title=The History Guide|website=www.historyguide.org|access-date=2016-12-06}}</ref> before which all religious texts were hand written copies, of which there were relatively limited quantities in circulation. Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page