The concept of writing history dates back to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians and the Mesopotamians, who recorded their historical events on clay tablets and papyrus scrolls. The oldest known written historical records come from Sumeria, in the form of cuneiform tablets, which date back to around 3300 BCE.
The Greeks and Romans also wrote extensively about history. Herodotus, a Greek author, who is also known as ‘the father of history’, for his work ‘The Histories,’ which was published in the 5th century BCE. His book of history describing war between Greece and Persia is generally considered to be the first deliberate attempt to view the events of time against a historical backdrop.
Other notable Greek historians include Thucydides and Xenophon. Roman historians such as Livy and Tacitus also wrote extensively about history.
Other earliest known examples of historical writing is the “Historical Records” or “Shiji” written by Sima Qian in China around 100 BC. It covers the history of China from its legendary beginnings up to the author’s own time, and it is widely regarded as a masterpiece of historical literature.
There are also other examples of early historical writing from other regions and cultures, such as the “Annals of the Kings of Assyria” from Mesopotamia and the “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” from India.