Here is a bit of history that I found to be pretty interesting, and it pertains to one of the oldest HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS in LITERATURE we have... The Bible.
** this is not a post on religion, it is a post on history... so it shouldn't be in violation of any rules**
So what is known as the Old Testament of the Bible was written in Hebrew, the language of the Jewish people.
The oldest books of the Bible are believed to have been written down by Moses around 3000 years ago. Over the course of the following 800 years, other books were added to the Jewish Old Testament, by Israel's kings, shepherds, priests, and prophets...almost predominantly in Hebrew, with a couple Aramaic exceptions. The final Old Testament book was written somewhere around 400 BC.
By 300 BC, Jews were living in many areas outside of Israel. The majority of the known world, at that time, spoke Greek. In order that Jews born in Greek speaking lands would still be able to read their ancient writings, over the course of the next 200 years, the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek... What is known as the Septuagint.
Around 100 BC, afraid of the influence of Hellenistic Greek society, zealous Jews took to copying the entirety of their Hebrew scriptures, placed those Scrolls in clay jars, and hid them in caves around the Dead Sea. Those Scrolls would be found in 1947 by a young Muslim shepherd boy, randomly casting rocks into caves while caring for his sheep. After careful scrutiny by Scholars and experts, it was determined that what is known as the Old Testament of the Bible, nearly to the word, is the same today as it was 2000 years ago, as it was three thousand years ago.
Between the years of 50 A.D. and 90 A.D., what is known as the New Testament was written, by a handful of men, in Greek. Those who followed the teachings in the New Testament (mostly Greek speaking) were able to reference the Hebrew writings, to which the new writings often referred... something that would not have been possible if it had not been for the Septuagint! I find that utterly amazing!