Ok I've done it, here's a non-meme Start With the Sumerians chart. The other charts are focused on primary sources...

It might be a good idea to have an extra "history" section" while you're at it. Archaeology could greatly inform about the context of a lot of this literature.

I tend to use a nice serif font for titles and larger text, makes it look more professional. A simple sanf font for smaller text makes it easier to read and visually differentiates iit from the titles. For a basic chart like this, either use a very simple color-coded scheme, or include a key if the categories are more complicated. For background, a dull, relatively neutral color is good because it's just a backdrop and not the focus. A lot of charts I see on Veeky Forums use grey or black, which is as neutral as you can get, but a little bit of color makes it nicer to look at. Don't use a white background because it looks like you made it in MS Paint and/or are lazy.

I'd check out /gd/, it's a pretty cool board.

*sans

Wow, all of this is incredibly helpful, thank you for the advice!

I appreciate this list OP, but how are we supposed to believe your judgement? Can you tell us how you decided on these specifically?

Consider adding Stories from Ancient Canaan to this. It's notes linking The Hebrew Bible to Sumerian works through the Ugarits is super powerful.

add this and yer golden

>A Start With The Greeka chart doesn't include books on Greek archeological finds.
This isn't correct, there are books on the history of ancient Greece in the charts and you can't do history without archaeology, especially not in antiquity, and even more so you can't study Egyptian mythology and religion without art.

The absolute madman

Can't you see it's written on a chart? What more do you need?

nice chart, but i cant even find half of those books on any site sadly

You could just buy them you know.

LOL!

If you're going to include Egyptian literature, you should probably pick a better title than "Start with the Sumerians". You should also probably recommend an Egyptian history of some sort, as I feel a historical context is extremely important in understanding Egyptian writings.

Thank you for recommending an actually good Book of the Dead translation and not Budge.

>If you're going to include Egyptian literature, you should probably pick a better title than "Start with the Sumerians"
"Start with early civilization"
"Start with cradle of Civilization"
"Start with the cradle"

There's been loads of excellent suggestions, I've now made it much more comprehensive to take those into account. Yes, I know the Hittites aren't strictly near eastern, and I partly added them to fill up the space, but they come into Egyptian and Assyrian history (plus they're hella interesting).

I'm keeping it as "Start with the Sumerians" because it's catchy and Veeky Forums likes memes.

lol I hope this actually memes enough dumb anons into spending >$100 on two volume academic anthologies of ancient near eastern literatures.

The Pritchard anthologies can be found very cheaply actually, lots of 2nd hand copies around.

This is why the chart is not enough, the Greeks must also die

Also Carthage must be destroyed

>Start with the Sumerians
>read the egyptians and other non-sumerians

You should consider adding some of Zacharia Sitchins seminal translations of the cuniform tablets - your chart is unfortunately incomplete without at least one of his works.

OP WHY ARE YOU SO BASED

Where's Sitchin? This has got to be a joke.

Have faith in OP. My dick is already rock-hard and dripping pre-cum from such a comprehensive list. Add the cuneiform tablets and I'll ejaculate uncontrollably all over my room.

My thoughts exactly

Dude, just listen to NILE. The dude from NILE has a degree in this shit and if you listen to all their albums, it'll tell you everything you need to know.

Will do what genre? It looks like some sort of avant-prog-metal but im open to listening to anything with heart.

death metal
youtube.com/watch?v=FmX_lGwL1l4
and be sure to buy their cds, the booklets have lots of egyptian history with the historical significance behind each song.

It's pretty hardcore death metal tbqh.

youtube.com/watch?v=HPYQB7AsSkg

Nice thanks fellas

I've read the book by Stephanie Daley and the Enuma Elish was very good but I found the more fragmented stories hard to read and understand.

I realize they do the best they can to be accurate in a language that seems like it should be impossible to translate. Akkadian is so strange.

I'm not a big fan of their stuff, but this album in particular is balls to the wall good.

I wont reed any of those books but thanks OP you did good

>spending >$100 on two volume academic anthologies
You can get them for less than $30 each new, and dirt cheap used.

>not starting with the Neolithics

Who cares what ancient sand niggers think
Study the greeksb

...

reading 10 books

Finally we get some real scholarship up in here - put it on the chart OP.

Where do you go after having resumed with the romans?

Wherever you want.

The scholastics and medieval poetry, I guess

Bro this is a nice chart. I have to make a powerpoint later, kik?

This is a great 'start', so to speak.

Perhaps the correct guidance is "start with early Bronze Age" literature.

The earliest literature happened in the 3300-1200 time frame, in the fertile crescent geographic area.

That means Sumer, Egypt, Assyria, Hatti, etc.

My only criticism would be: you list books popularly available in physical form, whereas there are more useful if specialized editions that are available "online" -- as it were.

Have you considered adding the Bible, or the Persian Avestas to this list?
Also, if you're looking for a good compendium of Ancient Egyptian lit, try Miriam Lichtheim's three volume compilation.

Which of these books mention El or yhw3/Yahu?

that's a nice civilization you've got there......................

would be a shame if someone were to...... collapse it!

Stories of Ancient Canaan compare Ugaritic El (Zeus-Like) to Hebrew El and other points of inheritance.

Indeed... also...

amazon.com/Ancestral-Journeys-Peopling-Venturers-Vikings/dp/0500292078

saved and thanks. also is right start with the sumerians isn't correct. read the sumerians would be more appropriate.

I'm interested in the time period, but the form of writing blocks me.
Any good contemporary recommendations about these times and places?

OP added a bunch of history books

Godspeed you magnificent bastard

>My only criticism would be: you list books popularly available in physical form, whereas there are more useful if specialized editions that are available "online" -- as it were.

Which are?