What is EARLIER in Spanish?

It is tempting to rush and say: "¡MÁS TEMPRANO!" and it would be all right. EARLIER does mean MÁS TEMPRANO but that is not its primary meaning.
If we say: "Because of the weather I could not arrive EARLIER" then it means MÁS TEMPRANO.
If we say: "The painting on this wall seems quite recent. The one on the other wall was probably conceived EARLIER.
In this case EARLIER is a perfect synonym of the word BEFORE which in Spanish means ANTES.
What if we say: "The conference will take place after Ramadan. The invitations were sent EARLIER."?
In this case to translate EARLIER as MAS TEMPRANO is not that appropriate since the events described are occurring on the same day but a period that is longer than that. ANTES would be right though not so elegant or precise as CON ANTERIORIDAD or ANTERIORMENTE which convey the same meaning with a little more formality.

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