Writing, texts, books, and documents are an indispensable part of modern life and they have existed for thousands of years. Ancient Romans and Greeks also liked to visit bookstores, and Egyptians recorded the pyramid-building process of the Pharaohs. Portal theconversation.com speakWhat were ancient books and writing like?
Many people in the ancient world believed that writing was the invention of gods or heroes. For example, ancient Egyptians believed that the god Thoth was the first to create symbols to represent speech sounds. But in fact, the origin of writing remains a mystery – historians and archaeologists don't know exactly when writing appeared or who invented it.
According to current scientific data, the earliest example of handwritten text is the famous wooden tablet of Dispilio; Radiocarbon dating places it at more than 5000 BC. The artifact is named after the place where it was found: an ancient Neolithic settlement near a lake in Greece. The tablet is covered with strange lines. They have not been deciphered, but most experts believe that the symbols represent a form of writing.
Evidence of the existence of writing has been found in many places around the world. In Mesopotamia and Egypt, the oldest texts were created before 3000 BC. The still undeciphered Indus Valley script appeared at the same time as the first Chinese alphabet of the Dawenkou culture.
One of the most interesting aspects of early writing is the variety of writing forms. For example, the earliest known texts in Greek were written in Linear B, which existed from 1500-1200 BC, but were not deciphered until 1952. Linear B is not an alphabet but a syllabary containing more than 80 characters. The term is used by linguists to refer to writing systems in which each character means a specific syllable.
Around the 8th century BC. most Greeks switched to the alphabet. Where, unlike syllables, each letter means a vowel or consonant. The Greeks adapted their alphabet from the Phoenician alphabet, perhaps through interaction with Phoenician traders. Their alphabet has only 22 letters, which is easier to learn than the 80-letter alphabet of Linear B. And the English alphabet originates from the Romans, who lived in the 8th-7th centuries BC. received their alphabet from the Phoenicians to the Greeks.
When it comes to written documents, people use many types of “stationery”. But perhaps the most popular choice in the ancient Mediterranean was papyrus. To produce it, the pulp of the Cyperus papyrus plant is cut into thin strips and then pressed together. After drying, people get sheets of paper for writing.
Individual sheets of papyrus were often glued together to form long scrolls. As a result, some of the most luxurious scrolls from ancient Egypt are more than 10 meters long. Such scrolls include, for example, the recently discovered Vaziri Scroll containing portions of the Book of the Dead. Papyri were often rolled up on shelves or in boxes, and labels were attached to the handles of the scrolls so people could identify their contents.
Papyrus may seem like a shabby material, but in fact, it is more durable than modern paper. Many of the texts written on it have existed for thousands of years in jars, coffins or even on sand. It is vulnerable to pests such as insects or rats, but even in ancient times, people knew how to deal with them. For example, the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder claimed that papyrus sheets soaked in citrus oil would not be eaten by moths.
If any resident of ancient Greece or Rome wanted to write a book, what would he have to do? First, you need to buy sheets of paper or papyrus rolls that you can write on. Those who cannot afford such costs must use other materials. According to Greek historian Diogenes Laertius (3rd century AD), the philosopher Cleanthes recorded his lectures on mollusc shells and cattle shoulder blades because he did not have money to buy papyrus.
Next is the ink. There were many types of pigments in the ancient world. Common black ink is made from ash or resin mixed with plant resin. They are sold in powder form and buyers can then mix them with water before use.
Finally, the last step is the writing tool. The feathers and handles are made from reeds and sharpened with knives. If there are errors on the paper, the ink is removed with a wet sponge… But in fact, the writer often does not even touch the paper – he simply dictates the text to the secretary and the secretary in the file.
