Earliest known manuscripts by language

major body of Frankish law governing all the Franks of Frankia under the rule of its kings during the Old Frankish Period

manuscript

manuscript

small limestone tablet with an early Canaanite inscription

thumb|First page of the St. Gall Codex Abrogens (Stiftsbibliothek, cod. 911) Heading: ("Here begins the commentary on the Old Testament") Abrogans, also German Abrogans or Codex Abrogans (St Gall, Stiftsbibliothek, Cod. 911), is a Middle Latin–Old High German glossary, whose preserved copy in the Abbey Library of St Gall is regarded as the oldest preserved book in the German language.

Georgian language Byzantine mosaic

kernos

manuscript

10th or 11th century gloss

the oldest book of Kievan Rus'

stone inscription in Indonesia

late Latin riddle from Northern Italy

papal bull

thumb|right|A page of the late 13th century law . ' ( or ) or the Västgöta (Westrogothic) law' is the oldest Swedish text written in Latin script and the oldest of all Swedish provincial laws. It was compiled in the early 13th century, probably at least partly at the instigation of Eskil Magnusson and was the code of law used in the provinces of Västergötland and Dalsland and in Mo härad during the latter half of that century. The earliest complete text is dated 1281. Small fragments of an older text have been dated 1250.

artifact

c. 930 CE Hebrew-language letter; first mention of Kiev (Kyiv)

oldest document in any Finnic language

short text written on an ancient Greek pottery vessel dated to ca. 740 BC

right|thumb|300px|Il-Kantilena Il-Kantilena () is the oldest known literary text in the Maltese language. It dates from the 15th century (no later than 1485, the death of its author, and probably from the 1470s), but was not found until 1966 by the historian Mikiel Fsadni. The poem is attributed to Pietru Caxaro, and was recorded by Caxaro's nephew, Brandano, in his notarial register (Dec. 1533 – May 1563). It is preserved at the Notarial Archives in Valletta. In April 2025, Il-Kantilena was added to UNESCO's Memory of the World Register.

chronicle which contains the earliest known sentence written in Polish

list of cheeses considered an early text in Leonese

8th-century BCE wine cup

ancient inscription in southeast Asia

12th-century Hungarian text

Wikimedia list article

official 10th C. documents written in a Romance vernacular in Italy

epic poem in the Swahili language, dated 1728

set of medieval Spanish cartularies

manuscript with oldest written Hungarian

series of Chinese leases, mortgages, and other commerce contracts

Oldest known Kadamba Kannada inscription

thumb|right|A Stanza from Kavirajamarga which praises the people for their literary skills Kavirajamarga () (850 C.E.) is the earliest available work on rhetoric, poetics and grammar in the Kannada language. It was inspired by or written in part by the famous Rashtrakuta King Amoghavarsha I, and some historians claim it is based partly on the Sanskrit text Kavyadarsha. Some historians believe Kavirajamarga may have been co-authored by a poet in the king's court, the Kannada language theorist Sri-vijaya.