Ancient Babylonian

The classic story of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves is a section of the Arabian Nights (also known as One Thousand and One Nights), which is an outstanding large-scale folk story collection in the Arab region during the Middle Ages. Its author is the Arab people. It was compiled by the Arabs at that time by collecting stories that were passed down orally, so it is a folk story collection and it is impossible to clearly state who the author is.

The sources of the stories of the Arabian Nights are mainly divided into three parts. The first part is translated from the ancient Persian "One Thousand Stories" into Arabic. This part is the core of the book. It provides the basic plot and context of the Arabian Nights, as well as the main male and female characters King Shahryar and Shahruzo. The second part is the story of the Abbasid Dynasty of Iraq, mostly stories that happened in Baghdad during the reign of Caliph Harun al-Rashid and Caliph Mamun. The third part is about the story of Egypt and the Muruk Dynasty, mainly talking about the customs and practices of Egypt from 1440 to 1550.