What iS THE OLDEST BOOK IN THE WORLD?

Introduction 

Have you ever wondered what the oldest book in the world is? In ancient Mesopotamia (near where Iraq in Asia  is today) during the 30th century before the Common Era (BCE), the first writing systems were developed. Some of the Civilizations that started these systems were the Sumerian, Akkadian, and the Egyptians. 

Etruscan Gold Book 

The Etruscan Gold book is believed to be the oldest book as it dates back to 600 BCE. Also the Etruscan Gold book has six pages/sheets of pictures. The pictures are of a harp, soldier, mermaid, and a horse rider. The book is made out of 24 karat gold. 

Also, the Etruscan Gold book is very small compared to books today. The size of the pages is only 4.5cm to 5 cm. The book weighs 100 grams, which is about the weight of a stick of butter.

The book is written in alphabet that came from the Greek alphabet, but unfortunately the exact meaning of the words is not known.

Discovering the Etruscan Gold Book 

More than 75 years ago alongside the Strouma River, the Etruscan Gold book was found. The book was found in tomb that was discovered by a soldier when he was working on building a canal along the Strouma River. The finder of the Etruscan Gold book wished to remain unknown, but he donated the book to Bulgaria’s National History Museum. 

Johann Gutenberg Bible 

The most famous bible is probably the Johann Gutenberg Bible. 

For example, the earliest printed bible is the Gutenberg Bible printed in Europe in Mainz, Germany. Gutenberg’s invention allowed so many people in the world to change.

 The Johann Gutenberg Bible is so famous because it is best known for being the first major printed bible using 42 lines of words in 1455. The maker improved the process by using oil ink for his books using movable metal type. 

Why the Gutenberg Bible is So Famous 

The Johann Gutenberg Bible is so famous because it is one of the first books that was mass-produced. This means that more than one book could be made a time. This invention changed the world.

Before the printing press, books were written by hand from a team of scribes (people or a big group who copy out documents by hand). These hand-written books had many mistakes. They were also hard to read and had to be made one book at a time very slowly. A single book was a process that could take months or years, rather than days or weeks.

Gutenberg improved the process by using oil ink for his books using movable metal type. Before this, the ink used to make books by hand was mostly water based. But the water based ink did not work with the metal type.

The Gutenberg Bible was printed in 1455. There were between 160-185 bibles made. Today only 48 copies still survive. Twelve of the copies are printed on vellum (a material produced from smoothing calfskin) and thirty-six copies are printed on hand-made paper.  

Other Old Books 

The Pyrgi gold tablets are the second oldest book. Scientifically the tablets date back to about 500 BCE.

The tablets are believed to have been a book because the tablets had holes that held together like a book. 

Some people think that the Gutenberg Bible was the first mass-produced printed book, but that is not actually true. 

Full-length books were actually produced in China around the year 800 using wooden blocks, and other book were produced is Asia.

Conclusion 

In conclusion, the oldest known book is the Etruscan Gold book and the oldest printed bible is the Gutenberg Bible. 

The Gutenberg Bible is so important because it was one of the first mass-produced books in the world. It changed history because after the Gutenberg Bible was printed, many, many more books began to be printed in Europe, which started to spread knowledge and ideas around the world.