We picture it as over 2,000 years old, and defensive walls did exist under the Qin and Han. But those early ramparts were mostly rammed earth and have largely vanished. The brick and stone sections tourists visit were built under the Ming dynasty, between the late 14th and the 17th century.
Around 2300 BCE, Enheduanna, daughter of King Sargon of Akkad, became high priestess of the Moon god at Ur. She composed hymns to the goddess Inanna and put her name to them. She is the oldest person identified as the author of a literary work, about 1,500 years before Homer.
Squeeze Earth's 4.5 billion years into a single 24-hour day. Homo sapiens shows up around 11:59:54 p.m., roughly six seconds before midnight. All of written history, from Sumerian tablets to today, fits into the final tenth of a second. A cosmic blink.