Myths are a part of every culture in the world and are used to explain natural phenomena, where a people came from and how their civilization developed, and why things happen as they do. At their most basic level, myths comfort by giving a sense of order and meaning to what can sometimes seem a chaotic world.
More about: MythologyDefinition
Timeline
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c. 4000 BCEEarliest Egyptian Myths Recorded.
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c. 3000 BCEHathor, known as Mistress of Dendera, cult center flourishes in the city of Dendera.
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c. 2500 BCEOsiris as Dying and Reviving God and God of the Dead appears in Pyramid Texts.
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2285 BCE - 2250 BCELife of Enheduanna, daughter of Sargon of Akkad, and world's first author known by name.
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c. 2150 BCE - c. 1400 BCEThe tales of Gilgamesh written which inform The Epic of Gilgamesh
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c. 1640 BCE - c. 1700 BCEWritten form of the Atrahasis Myth of the Great Flood.
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c. 1300 BCEThe Myth of Adapa appears in written form.
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c. 1120 BCEExtant copy of the Sumerian Enuma Elish (creation story) is made from much older text.
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c. 826 BCE - c. 823 BCEMahabharata likely composed.
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c. 800 BCE - c. 700 BCEHomer of Greece writes his Iliad and Odyssey.
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753 BCEThe legendary founding date of Rome.
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c. 700 BCEGreek poet Hesiod writes his Theogony and Works and Days.
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c. 515 BCE - 70 CEBiblical Book of Genesis revised, along with other Hebrew scripture, during the Second Temple Period.
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c. 400 BCERoman tale of mythical twins Romulus and Remus first recorded.
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c. 400 BCE - c. 200 CEBhagavad Gita likely written down from earlier oral tradition.
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c. 30 BCE - c. 19 BCERoman poet Virgil writes his Aeneid.
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c. 65 CE - c. 100 CEThe tales of the life and work of Jesus (gospels) composed.
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712 CEThe Kojiki is written, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.
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720 CEThe Nihon Shoki is written, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.
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c. 807 CEImibe-no-Hironari writes the Kogoshui, a collection of oral myths forming the basis of the Shinto religion.
