10,000 - 8000 B.C. > Mesolithic Period

8000 - 3000 B.C. > Neolithic Period; Cro-Magnon Man farms and herds and produces cave paintings, stone and bone tools, pottery, and megaliths

3000 - 1200 B.C. > Bronze Age; two major civilizations arise in the Tigris-Euphrates and Nile valleys

During the Bronze Age (3000-1200 BC), two major civilizations arose in the Tigris-Euphrates and Nile valleys. The Tigris-Euphrates civilizations were divided into three major Mespotamian kingdoms: Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian; and the Nile civilizations came to be known as Egyptian. Major developments in Mesopotamia include cuneiform writing, burial art, pottery kilns and wheels, The Epic of Gilgamesh, bronze sculptures, ziggurats, musical instruments, and the Code of Hammurabi. In Egypt, the Nile Civilization's developments include pyramids, a theocratic system of government, hieroglyphics, funerary temples, colossal sculpture, portrait sculptures, and an artistic canon for sculptures in the round.

The earliest literature might well be called "illiterature," as it consists of stories, myths, and legends handed down orally over a number of generations. These stories often have no authors, originating perhaps from collective effort. Many of the world's mythologies have similar characteristics; for example, every culture has a creation story that tries to answer such questions as "Who are we?", "Where did we come from?", and "What happens to us when we die?".

What is a myth? It can be defined as a traditional story about gods, kings, and heroes which provides a moral code by which to live; myths deal with the significant aspects of human and superhuman existence. We study mythology because mythology provides us the collected knowledge of a society, its science, religion, and history. Mythology comprises pure myth (primitive science and religion, often with explanatory genealogy), heroic saga (primitive history, usually describing a grand past), and folk or fairy tale (told for sheer entertainment value). "Romance" is a conscious literary effort at duplicating myth.