Humans started creating poetry long before writing existed, probably in the form of chants, songs, and spoken stories in prehistoric times, many tens of thousands of years ago. The earliest surviving written poems we know of come from ancient Mesopotamia (Sumer), around the third to early second millennium BCE, such as Sumerian hymns and the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Quick Scoop

How far back does poetry go?

  • As an oral art, poetry almost certainly predates writing and was used to remember history, laws, myths, and family lines.
  • The oldest known written poetic texts are from Sumer (in today’s Iraq), roughly 3000–2000 BCE, in the form of religious hymns and epic tales.
  • Epic works like the Epic of Gilgamesh (3rd millennium BCE) and later Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey (around 8th century BCE) show how early cultures were already using verse to tell long, complex stories.

Why did ancient people create poetry?

  • To pass on stories and myths when there was no writing, using rhythm and repetition to make them easier to remember.
  • To perform religious rituals and hymns, praising gods or marking seasonal and community events.
  • To record kings, heroes, wars, and moral lessons in a way that felt powerful and memorable to listeners.

A simple way to remember it

  • Spoken poetry: as old as human storytelling, lost in prehistory.
  • Written poetry: at least 4,000–5,000 years old, with clear examples from ancient Sumer and other early civilizations.

TL;DR: People have been making poetry since prehistoric times, and the first written poems we can still read are about 4,000–5,000 years old. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.