The Bible described the shape of the earth as spherical centuries before others. It also alluded to gravity.
Isaiah:40:22It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in:
See All...- “It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.”
Job:26:7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.
See All...- “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”
The passage from Isaiah was written sometime between 740 and 680 BC, at least 300 years before Aristotle introduced similar thoughts in his book On the Heavens. The verse from Job may be one of the earliest passages of the Bible written and this at a time when other cultural stories placed the earth on the shoulders of deified men, tortoises, elephants, or other creatures.