The BBC has started a new, four-part documentary series called The Ascent of Woman. The title is, of course, a reference to the legendary 1973 series on the history of science, The Ascent of Man, fronted by Dr Jacob Bronowski. This series, fronted by Dr. Amanda Foreman, is more of a cultural history, specifically about the role of women in society.

It is, fairly obviously, a feminist history. One of Foreman’s objectives is to highlight great women of history. She’s also trying to explain why women have been so badly thought of, particularly in Christian and Islamic society. I was pleased to see her finger Aristotle, who really does have a lot to answer for. An expert on ancient Greek culture that she talked to in the first program said that the position of women in Athenian society, that supposed bastion of democracy, was analogous to that in Afghanistan under the Taliban.

From our point of view, however, a particularly interesting point made by Foreman regards the origin of literature. There are lots of ways in which women have set firsts in the arts. Mary Shelley is widely regarded as having written the first science fiction novel. The honor of being the world’s first novel appears to belong to the Tale of Genji, written by Murasaki Shikibu in the early 11th Century. It is also worth noting that the first written musical compositions were produced by Hildegard of Bingen. But who was the world’s first author?

Obviously we don’t know. People will have been telling stories around camp fires since before the dawn of civilization. However, we do know the name of the first person to sign their name to a literary work. She was Enheduanna, the daughter of Sargon the Great who ruled over the Sumerian Empire in the 23rd Century BCE. She was also High Priestess of the Moon, and the most important religious leader in the country. Enheduanna wrote a considerable amount of religious poetry, mostly in praise of the goddess Inanna (Ishtar).

So there we have it. Women writers, they have been at it for more than four millennia. Perhaps it is time for people to notice that we exist.