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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

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WRITING

The process that goes into producing books.

Books have been written for many centuries but have not always been produced in the familiar form in which they are known today. If a book is defined as any written record of thoughts or acts, the production of books goes back to a very early period in the history of civilization. The Sumerians produced written documents and primers on clay tablets as early as 2500 BC. The Sumerian civilization went into decline after its conquest by the Akkadians (2300 BC). In the 21st century BC, however, there occurred a revival of Sumerian culture that produced a number of important literary works, including the first known written codified system of law. Today a rich collection of Sumerian material exists. It includes legal, mythological, and commercial documents as well as written material produced in the process of training scribes. A large collection of cuneiform tablets was found in the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal, which was established in the seventh century BC. The library contained many records of religious and scientific knowledge.

We have many ancient manuscripts of the books of the Bible. As for the books of the Hebrew Bible, scribes used quill, ink, and leather scrolls to make copies of individual books. Some of the scrolls, made of several treated animal hides stitched together, could be as long as 35 to 40 feet (10.7 to 12.2 meters) when unrolled. As scrolls wore out, or if there was a need for copies in various synagogues, Jewish scribes would make additional copies—and they did so with painstaking care. Prior to the Dead Sea Scroll discoveries, museums housed several manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible dated between the eighth and tenth centuries. The Dead Sea Scrolls are dated between 100 BC and AD 100, which makes them a thousand years earlier than these other mauscripts. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain significant portions of the OT. Every book except Esther is represented. The largest portions come from the Pentateuch (especially Deuteronomy—25 manuscripts), the Major Prophets (especially Isaiah—18 manuscripts), and Psalms (27 manuscripts). As for the books of the NT, we have nearly 6,000 manuscripts prior to the time of the printing press (c. 1500). About 200 of these manuscripts date between the early second and late fourth century. Most of the NT manuscripts were written on papyrus or vellum, and all of the NT manuscripts were written in the codex form.

Writing Materials

Clay

The Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian clay tablets are well known. Baked clay tablets were preserved easily in almost any climate. They were suitable, however, only for a straight-line form of writing such as cuneiform, and were therefore not appropriate for the rounded Aramaic form of Hebrew script.

Papyrus

The papyrus rolls of Egypt have been used as a writing surface since the early third millennium BC. The Greeks adopted papyrus around 900 BC, and the Romans adopted its use later. The oldest extant Greek rolls of papyrus date from the fourth century BC. The inner pith of the papyrus plant was called byblos. From this comes the Greek word biblion (“book”) and the English word “bible.” The word “paper” is derived from “papyrus.”

Unfortunately, papyrus is perishable, requiring a dry climate for its preservation. That is why few papyri have been discovered anywhere other than in the desert sands of Egypt. Some papyrus fragments have also been found in the caves near the Dead Sea, where the climate is likewise sufficiently dry.

Potsherds

Broken pieces of pottery furnished an inexpensive writing material because the supply was so abundant. The Samaria and Lachish ostraca are examples.

Wood

Wooden tablets covered with stucco or wax were sometimes used as a writing surface. A NT example is Luke 1:63.

Leather, Parchment, and Vellum

These are all made from animal skins. Leather (tanned skins), the forerunner of parchment, has been in use about as long as papyrus, but it was rarely used because papyrus was so abundant. The ancient Hebrews probably used leather and papyrus for writing materials. The Dead Sea Scrolls were sheets of leather sewed together with linen thread. Metal scrolls also existed (e.g., copper).

Parchment, made in the beginning from sheep and goat skins, began to replace leather as early as the third century BC, though actual parchment codices date from the second century AD. To prepare parchment or refined leather, the hair was removed from the skins and the latter rubbed smooth. The most common form of book for OT and NT documents was evidently a roll or scroll of papyrus, leather, or parchment. The average length of a scroll was about 30 feet (9.1 meters), though the famous Harris Papyrus was 133 feet (40.5 meters) long. Scrolls were often stored in pottery jars (Jer 32:14) and were frequently sealed (Rv 5:1).

Vellum had a finer quality than parchment and was prepared from the skins of calves, lambs, or kids. In the fourth century AD, vellum or parchment as a material and the codex as a form became the norm.

Paper

Paper, made from wood, rags, and certain grasses, began to replace vellum and parchment as early as the tenth century AD in the Western world, though it was used considerably earlier in China and Japan. By the 15th century, paper manuscripts were common.

Kinds of Books

Scroll

The scroll is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or leather used for writing a document or literary work. The papyrus scroll of Egypt can be traced as far back as 2500 BC. One of the most famous literary productions of ancient Egypt is the Book of the Dead. Jews used leather scrolls for writing the books of the Old Testament. Most of the scrolls discovered from the Dead Sea area were written on leather, with a few having been written on papyrus.

Codex

An important development in the evolution of book production occurred with the advent of the codex in the middle of the first century. A codex was constructed much like our modern books by folding sheets of papyrus or vellum (treated animal hide) in the middle and then sewing them together at the spine. This kind of book was advantageous because it enabled the scribe to write on both sides; it facilitated easier access to particular passages (as opposed to a scroll, which had to be unrolled); and it enabled Christians to bind together all four Gospels or all Paul’s epistles or any other such combination.

Writing Utensils and Ink

Different kinds of writing implements were used, depending on the writing surfaces in use at various periods of history. Metal chisels and gravers were used for inscribing stone and metal. A stylus was used for writing cuneiform (“wedge-shaped” characters) on clay tablets. For writing on ostraca (potsherds), papyrus, and parchment, a reed was split or cut to act as a brush. In Egypt rushes were used to form a brush. Later, reeds were cut to a point and split like a quill pen. Apparently this was the type of pen or “calamus” used in NT times (3 Jn 1:13).

Ink (cf. 2 Jn 1:12) was usually a black carbon (charcoal) mixed with gum or oil for use on parchment or mixed with a metallic substance for papyrus. It was kept in an inkhorn as a dried substance, on which the scribe would dip or rub his moistened pen. It could be erased by washing (Nm 5:23) or with a penknife, which was also used for sharpening pens and trimming or cutting scrolls (Jer 36:23).

See also Hieroglyphics; Inscriptions; Lachish Letters; Letter Writing, Ancient; Scribe; Writer.