What was the first book ever written?

"how to catch a mammoth" by Gronk, it was a limited edition, hand copied from about 56,000 BC

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic poem from Babylonia and is arguably the oldest known work of literature, predating 2000 BC.

There's no single candidate for the oldest book as such, because the earliest texts were lists of items on tablets, then catalogues, then descriptive catalogues and so on. These were all pre-Minoan texts, carved into tablets. The oldest known story is the Epic of Gilgamesh. And yes, you can find it on Amazon.

Credit is given to the Greek author Herodotus, who wrote a book called “History” in the 5th century Before Christ which described the Greco-Persian wars. He is known as the "father of history".

Side Note – I’m sure there were many other ancient texts before Herodotus but he is credited with writing the first book.

I'm still amazed that people can be ignorant to the point of believing that the Bible is the oldest book ever written. What do they teach in American schools for history? And the oldest printed book in existence is indeed a copy of the Diamond Sutra, as another poster mentioned.

Plain and simple "The Diamond Sutra" 868 AD

Look it up.

Here is some info.

The world's earliest dated (868 AD) printed book is a Chinese scroll about sixteen feet long and containing the text of the Diamond Sutra. It was found in 1907 by the archaeologist Sir Marc Aurel Stein in Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, and is now in the British Museum. The book displays a great maturity of design and layout and speaks of a considerable ancestry for woodblock printing. The colophon, at the inner end, reads: Reverently [caused to be] made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 13th of the 4th moon of the 9th year of Xiantong [i.e. 11th May, CE 868 ].

I think the oldest is The Audacity of Hope. By Barack Obama. Can you believe that it was written in the twentienth century? Maybe it was the 21st. Still not sure.

infact the oldest book was an account book of taxable produce and stock

1) "Nowadays there is more-or-less consensus on a few points concerning the origin of writing. First of all, writing was invented independently in at least three places, Mesopotamia, China, and Mesoamerica. Recent discoveries might also provide evidence that writing was invented in Egypt and Indus independently of Mesopotamia."
Source and further information:
http://www.ancientscripts.com/ws_origins.html


2) Maybe that one...
http://homepage.mac.com/doubtboy/First.html
;-)


3) Here a list of ancient texts of the Bronze Age:
"Early Bronze Age (ca. 3300 to 2000 BC) approximate dates shown
6600 BC Jiahu script from Henan, China.
2600 BC Sumerian texts from Abu Salabikh, including the Instructions of Shuruppak and the Kesh Temple Hymn
2400 BC Egyptian Pyramid Texts, including the Cannibal Hymn (in parts likely composed from as early as 3000 BC[citation needed])
2400 BC Palermo stone
2350 BC The Maxims of Ptahhotep
2270 BC Sumerian Enheduanna tablet hymns (earliest author known by name)
2050 BC Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu
2000 BC Egyptian Coffin Texts inscriptions
2000 BC Sumerian Lament for Ur
2000 BC Sumerian Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta

Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000 to 1600 BC) approximate dates shown
1900 BC Egyptian Westcar Papyrus; assumed age of the text, the surviving papyrus copy dates to ca. 1700 BC.
1950-1750 BC Kultepe texts
The Epic of Gilgamesh (Sumerian version)
Egyptian Story of Sinuhe (in Hieratic)
Enûma Elish (Akkadian version)
Atra-Hasis epic (Akkadian version)
1780 BC Babylonian Code of Hammurabi stele
1750 BC Hittite Anitta tablets
1650 BC Egyptian Ipuwer papyrus
1600 BC Chinese Oracle bones

Late Bronze Age (ca. 1600 to 1200 BC) approximate dates shown
1500 BC Hittite military oath
1500-1100 BC Vedic Sanskrit Rigveda (redaction likely around 800 BC)
1550 BC Egyptian Book of the Dead
1400 BC Hurrian & Ugaritic Amarna Letters
1330 BC Great Hymn to the Aten
the Babylonian Poor Man of Nippur
the Epic of Gilgamesh (Akkadian version) "
Source and further information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_literature

However, the Jiahu script would not qualify as a book, there are just a few signs:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/2956925.stm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiahu_script

Many scholars agree that Job is the oldest book in the Bible, written by an unknown Israelite about 1500 B.C. Others hold that the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are the oldest books in the Bible, written between 1446 and 1406 B.C.

Book: A written or printed work on sheets of paper bound by covers. So, scrolls, stone tablets, clay tablets, wax tablets, wooden boards, chiseled stone, leather skins, crop circles, ect..don't qualify as a proper answer to this question. Whether you agree or disagree the collection of Old and New Testament writings were the first to ever be bound and distributed as an actual book. Obviously those who are anti-christian will try and convince you otherwise. The earliest complete copy of the New Testament was written out no long after A.D. 300, it is called the Codex Sinaiticus and it now is in preservation at the British Museum in London. John 3:16

I would like to believe the bible. However, the Bible itself is a collaboration of books. I know that other scrolls have been found. Would these scrolls be considered books? Or are we talking about PUBLISHED books? What do we consider PUBLISHED books? Is it enough to discover written material and put it in an understandable order, thus creating a book, or is the text /scroll itself a book? I know the Bible is the oldest published book.

Are we really going to talk about stone tablets?

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in europe the first form of writing was discovered in romania, they are called the "Tărtăria tablets" dating around 5500 b.c.
tartaria tablets creepy huh?

and there is also the egyptian book of the deads...

I don't know where you come from or what they teach in your schools? Jewish scrolls predate Chinese scrolls by a small margin. If you don't believe me talk to your local history professor, if you have one. That is the fact Jack! Babylon was in full effect, now it ain't.

The bible is the first book ever written. The bible means a storybook. And God created everything. So wouldn't that be the first book that counted?

No one can ever say what was the first book EVER written. We weren't there. It probably didn't survive, even if it was written on a stone tablet or carved into the side of a mountain. The bible is up there for oldest, not as a full collection (which is what it is, a collection of 66 smaller books) but the book of Job is considered one of the oldest as it was written about 3,500 years ago. The other books by Moses are also about the same age. No one knows for sure.

What about the Egyptian Book of the Dead, approximately 3,500 BC? "Mine is yesterday, I know tomorrow."

Well, if you're talking about on 'paper' of some sort, it almost has to be something Egyptian or Chinese, probably Chinese.

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