Skip to content

Ask Kingston

Answers to Christianity Questions

  • Home
  • Is there a story/book older than the Bible?

Is there a story/book older than the Bible?

Posted on October 3, 2021October 12, 2021 By Kingston Tong No Comments on Is there a story/book older than the Bible?
The Bible

Thank you for the question on ancient writings, “Is there a story/book older than the Bible?”

As one may know that the earliest surviving book/ codes is Codex Sinaiticus. Codex Sinaiticus is dated to about 325 CE. The Dead Sea Scrolls are dated between first century BCE and into the first century CE.

The oldest surviving written story is the Epic of Gilgamesh, dating to 2100 BCE which is written in tablets, while archaeologists have discovered Egyptian that has hieroglyphs writing dating as far back as 3400 BCE on bones and pottery vessels.

https://archive.archaeology.org/9903/newsbriefs/egypt.html#%3A~%3Atext%3DBone%20and%20ivory%20tags%2C%20pottery%2Cknown%20examples%20of%20Egyptian%20writing.

The Israelites didn’t become a nation until Moses as the Israelites were a nomadic tribe living in Canaan. According to the Genesis account, Abram left the Mesopotamian culture, lived in the Canaanite culture, and even ventured into the Egyptian culture. Thus it would be reasonable that those earlier culture would have left some form of writing, drawing or inscriptions of their culture.

Göbekli Tepe is “a Neolithic archaeological site near the city of Şanlıurfa in Southeastern Anatolia, Turkey. Dated to the Pre-Pottery Neolithic, between c. 9500 and 8000 BCE, the site comprises a number of large circular structures supported by massive stone pillars – the world’s oldest known megaliths. Many of these pillars are richly decorated with abstract anthropomorphic details, clothing, and reliefs of wild animals, providing archaeologists a rare insights into prehistoric religion and the particular iconography of the period.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe

They have found sketched into the megaliths of animals, but no written language as of yet. Verbal transmission became written transmission as society developed where by rulers wanted to record their deeds or history that was verbalized to them. Thus it would be expected to find older writings than the Bible.

SUMMARY: The established cultures from the time of Noah would have left sketching or later writings of their cultural history or laws that would be older than the compiled Bible about 325 CE.

For further perspectives:

https://www.quora.com/Is-there-a-story-book-older-than-the-Bible

Post navigation

❮ Previous Post: What does “ancient of days” mean in the Bible?
Next Post: How did Abraham know that God will provide a lamb (Genesis 22:8) ❯

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Categories

  • About Ask Kingston
  • Devotional Thoughts
  • My Journey of Faith
  • Pastoral Ministry
    • Counseling
    • Member Care
    • Small Groups
      • Colossians
      • Seven Churches of Revelation
      • Stand Alone Lessons
      • Training Material
  • Questions & Answers
    • Christian Living
    • New Testament
    • Old Testament
    • The Bible
    • Theology
    • Uncategorized
  • Sermon/Sunday School

Recent Posts

  • THE PHARAOHS OF EGYPT AND THE ISRAELITES
  • Christ Our Passover
  • Academy Hour Class: The Season of Friendship
  • Seniors. The Ninth Inning.
  • Devotional Thoughts in the Gospel of John, Overview of Chapter 20

Archives

  • August 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020

Copyright © 2026 Ask Kingston.

Theme: Oceanly by ScriptsTown