Hello AskHistorians,
I've always had a fascination with history but never been anything more than a novice. What I'm looking for are some great ancient books or stories to read, there are probably many I've never heard of.
The Epic of Gilgamesh? The Iliad? And older version of the bible perhaps?
I would love to hear your suggestions.
For ancient literature stories, I have a few that you might find interesting.
The Tale of Sinuhe an Egyptian story with themes of divine providence and mercy. The anonymous author has been called the "Egyptian Shakespeare", and many copies have been found, so it was a very popular work in ancient times.
The Tale of Wenamun, another Egyptian tale of misadventures abroad. The site linked is Breasted's translation with some commentary.
The Contendings of Horus and Seth is going to be made into a Hollywood movie, but you can read the original, and it's pretty interesting.
For additional literature from the Sumerians, check out the Electronic Text Corpus of Sumerian Literature, which has a bunch of myths and other literature, including Inanna's descent into the underworld and Enlil and Ninlil
If you're interested in some more Egyptian stories, this website has a bunch of them, and lists the translator as well, which is pretty awesome.
Hope this helps!
Read one of the ancient historians like Thucydides, Herodotus, Livy, or Tacitus. I like Thucydides'account of the Peloponnesian war the best.