The religious, ethical, and practical literature of the past was sifted and treasured, and fresh additions were made.

But not much was written, for until the close of the second century the new literature of the Jews was _oral_.

The Bible was written down, and read from scrolls, but the Rabbinical literature was committed to memory piecemeal, and handed down from teacher to pupil.

Notes were perhaps taken in writing, but even when the Oral Literature was collected, and arranged as a book, it is believed by many authorities that the book so compiled remained for a considerable period an oral and not a written book.
This book was called the _Mishnah_ (from the verb _shana_, "to repeat" or "to learn").

The Mishnah was not the work of one man or of one age.
So long was it in growing, that its birth dates from long before the destruction of the Temple.