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Hebrew Bible
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450 BC to 2nd century CE
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The *completed* Torah is generally dated to between the Achaemenid period (probably 450–350 BCE) and the Hellenistic period (333–164 BCE).
The Ketuvim, the final addition, entered canon in the 2nd century CE.
[Documentary Hypothesis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentary_hypothesis)
[Development of the canon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Development_of_the_Hebrew_Bible_canon)
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Plutarch
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c. 46 to 120 CE
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Greek and later Roman philosopher.
Most famous for _Parallel Lives_, a biography of great men structured as comparisions between two similiar-yet-different figures. More concerned with exploring the role of virtue and vice than strict historical accuracy, but still incredibly valuable.
Also wrote _Moralia_, a series of essays across a variety of topics.
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Tacitus
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c. 56 to c. 120 CE
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Roman historian, most well known for the _Annals_ and the _Histories_, a history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 CE) to Domitian (96 CE)
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Origen
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c. 185 to 253 CE
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A prolific writer who wrote roughly 2,000 treatises in multiple branches of theology, including textual criticism, biblical exegesis and hermeneutics, homiletics, and spirituality. He was one of the most influential and controversial figures in early Christian theology, apologetics, and asceticism.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origen)
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Kalidasa
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4th–5th century
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A Classical Sanskrit author who is often considered ancient India's greatest poet and playwright.
His surviving works consist of three plays, two epic poems and two shorter poems. The exact dates are unknown, but were sometime before the 5th century during the Gupta era (c. 240 - c. 547 CE)
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalidasa)
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Augustine of Hippo
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13 November 354 to 28 August 430
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North African bishop whose theology dominated Western Christianity for a millennium.
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Boethius
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~477–524
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The Consolation of Philosophy — written awaiting execution; bridged classical philosophy and medieval Christian thought.
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Quran
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610–632 CE
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The central text of Islam, widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quran)
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Bede
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c. 673–735
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_Ecclesiastical History of the English People_ — "Father of English History," established the AD/BC dating system in common use.
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Al-Khwarizmi
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c. 780 to 850
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Al-Kitab al-mukhtasar, Zij al-Sindhind — invented algebra; "algorithm" derives from his name.
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Al-Kindi
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c. 801 to c. 873
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_On First Philosophy, On the Intellect_ - first Arab philosopher, synthesized Greek logic with Islamic thought across 260 works.
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Al-Farabi
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c. 870 to c. 951
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"The Second Teacher," bridged Aristotle and Islamic theology.
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Murasaki Shikibu
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c. 973 – c. 1025
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Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She was best known as the author of The Tale of Genji, widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between about 1000 and 1012.
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Al-Biruni
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c. 973 to 1048
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Khwarazmian Iranic scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern geodesy", Founder of Indology and the first anthropologist.
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Shahnameh
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c. 977 and 1010 CE
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An epic work of Persian literature by Ferdowsi (940-1025). It includes both a mythical and historical history of Iran.
It tells of the mainly mythical but to some extent historical past of Iran from the creation of the world until the Muslim conquest in the seventh century.
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Ibn Sina
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c. 980 to 22 June 1037
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Polymath whose medical encyclopedia was a standard textbook for 600 years.
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Omar Khayyam
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18 May 1048 to 4 December 1131
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Persian poet and polymath, known for his contributions to mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and Persian literature. He was born in Nishapur, Iran and lived during the Seljuk era, around the time of the First Crusade.
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Hildegard of Bingen
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c. 1098 – 17 September 1179
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German abbess, composer, scientist and mystic; one of the most extraordinary polymaths of the Middle Ages.
_ Scivias, Physica_
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Rumi
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30 September 1207 to 17 December 1273
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One of the most important Islamic poets/mystics/everything in Islamic literature.
# Divan-i Shams-i Tabrizi
A collection of poetry by the Persian Sufi poet and mystic Rumi, with themes of love and longing.
Dedicated largely to the disappearance of his spiritual teacher Shams-i Tabrizi.
Rumi met Shams in 1244 CE. Sham's disappeared briefly between 1246-47, then disappeared permanently in 1248 CE. Eventually Rumi would get confirmation that Sham had died.
# Masnavi
Six books of poetry on how Sufi's can relate to God. It's "been viewed by many commentators as the greatest mystical poem in world literature".
Started when Rumi was 54 and continued up until his death in 1273.
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Thomas Aquinas
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c. 1255 to 7 March 1274
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Synthesized Aristotelian philosophy with Christian theology, defining Catholic doctrine for centuries
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Divine Comedy
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c. 1308 to c. 1321
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Established Italian as a literary language and mapped the medieval Christian cosmos.
Broken into three parts: _Inferno_, _Purgatorio_, and _Paradiso_.
The Inferno is the most famous for its tiered depiction of Hell, which has become a central part of Christian hell imagery to the present day.
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Ibn Khaldun
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27 May 1332 to 17 March 1406
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An influential historian and sociologist of the Middle Ages.
Served as a politician before writing _Muqaddimah_, discussing history in terms of civilizational cycles, making him one of the first sociological historians.
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Guru Nanak
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15 April 1469 – 22 September 1539
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An Indian spiritual teacher, mystic and poet, who is regarded as the founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus.
[Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guru_Nanak)
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Niccolò Machiavelli
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3 May 1469 to 21 June 1527
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Wrote _The Prince_ and _Discourses_ after being exiled from Florence, discussing political theory and forms of government for Florence.
An early example of modern political science.
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William Shakespeare
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1564 to 1616
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I cannot resist the chance to call him "Billy Shakes."
You know who Shakespeare is. Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, etc.
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Miyamoto Musashi
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c. 1583 to 13 June 1645
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Famous as both a swordsman who fought a sword in each hand and won over 62 duels, and as an author of _The Book of Five Rings_ and _Dokkodo_
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Voltaire
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21 November 1694 to 30 May 1778
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Produced works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and even scientific expositions.
He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets
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Jean-Jacques Rousseau
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28 June 1712 to 2 July 1778
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A political philosopher who influenced the [Age of Enlightment](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment).
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Adam Smith
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16 June 1723 to 17 July 1790
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In _The Wealth of Nations_, laid the foundations of modern economics and free market theory.
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Olaudah Equiano
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1745–1797
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A formerly enslaved writer whose autobiography, _The Intertesting Narrative_, galvanized the British abolitionist movement.
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Karl Marx
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5 May 1818 to 14 March 1883
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You know who Marx is.
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Leo Tolstoy
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9 September 1828 to 20 November 1910
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Russian novelist of unmatched scope whose moral philosophy influenced Gandhi and beyond. Author of _War and Peace, Anna Karenina_.
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Rabindranath Tagore
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7 May 1861 to 7 August 1941
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First non-European Nobel Literature laureate; poet, philosopher, and Bengali cultural titan.
_Gitanjali, The Home and the World_
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Lu Xun
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25 September 1881 – 19 October 1936
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Father of modern Chinese literature, unflinching critic of feudal culture.
_A Madman's Diary, The True Story of Ah Q_.
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Kahlil Gibran
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January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931
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Lebanese-American writer, poet and visual artist.
_The Prophet_ is one of the best-selling books of the 20th century.
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Franz Kafka
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3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924
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gave the world "Kafkaesque"; defined modern alienation in bureaucratic society
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George Orwell
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25 June 1903 to 21 January 1950
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Defined the political dystopia genre; "Orwellian" entered the language permanently.
_1984_, _Animal Farm_.
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Chinua Achebe
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16 November 1930 – 21 March 2013
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Dismantled colonial narratives of Africa and launched modern African literature in English.
_Things Fall Apart_
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