At Jericho in the West Bank, archaeologists uncovered a stone tower about 8 meters high, with an internal staircase, built around 8000 BCE. It is one of the oldest known monumental structures. The site, among the oldest continuously inhabited places, was added to UNESCO's World Heritage list in 2023.
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.