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In ancient Babylonia clay for writing was shaped into thin, flat, rectangular bricks. Words were pressed into the soft clay with a wedge shaped stylus, and the clay  then baked in the sun. Archaeologists have found whole libraries of these clay tablets.
Ordinary people often used broken bits of pottery called "sherd", to write memos, bills and even shopping lists. Ink was made from soot mixed with oil or gum.

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Paper was invented in China by Ts'ai Lun (also given as Cai Lun, 50-121 CE) during the Han Dynasty in c. 105 CE, and was introduced into the Arab world by Chinese merchants in the 7th century CE. The cities of Baghdad and Damascus, especially, became important centers of paper and book production.

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Working through the next 6 columns write down some interesting facts about each.

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Ancient Writing | Priceless artifacts | Modern technology

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This first permanent writing surface was stone. In the bible, the first reference to writing is to the Ten Commandments, which were written on stone. The first pen was a chisel.

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Writing boards were made from pieces of wood or ivory covered with wax. They were used by the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. Two boards were sometimes hinged together. Any pointed stick made a pen

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Egyptian village creating papyrus today 

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Egyptian village creating papyrus today 

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Egyptian village revives Papyrus production

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The skins of sheep, goats, calves and antelopes were dried, craped and cleaned to make a smooth material called parchment. (The Hebrew word for book means "scrape") Then the skins were stretched and beaten flat ready for writing on.
Pens were made from reeds, with one end cut to a sloping edge and then split

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How Animal Hides Are Made Into Parchment At The Last Workshop In The US | Still Standing

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How parchment is made - Domesday - BBC Two

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How Papyrus, Animal Hides and Elephant Poop Are Turned Into Paper | Still Standing

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How One Vietnamese Village Is Keeping An 800-Year-Old Paper-Making Tradition Alive | Still Standing

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The written word was invented in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, around 3500-3000 BCE, where clay tablets were used to convey information. The Egyptians began using papyrus scrolls by the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-c. 2613 BCE) which were adopted by the Greeks and Romans, although these latter two also began to use writing tablets of wood covered with wax. Several such tablets could be bound together between covers of wood or metal to form a single volume; this was called a codex and it replaced the papyrus scroll in the Mediterranean region c. 400.

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The first writing consisted of simple pictures with one picture for each word. Writing like this, with over 800 pictures has been found in Babylonia and is over 5000 years old.

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The Egyptians made up their own little pictures to represent words or parts of words. The symbols they used were called hieroglyphs, which comes from a Greek word meaning ‘sacred carving’.

Hieroglyphs included around 700 different signs of objects and animals.

Some signs were pictorial or symbolic and stood for whole words. Some signs were phonetic, which means they stood for sounds. Hieroglyphs inspired the first alphabets, including the Latin alphabet which we use today.

They painted them on papyrus sheets - and on walls

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The Bablonians did not have access to papyrus and it was not easy to draw on clay. For this reason their pictures become increasingly simplified, untilwords became standard shapes pressed into the clay with wedge-shaped stick. The word "cruneiform" means wedge-shaped.

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In Canaan about 1500 BC someone had the clever idea of making up a symbol - a letter- for each sound in the language. They found that they needed about 25 letters.
There was now no longer any need to learn hundreds of different shapes for hundreds of different words. Any word could be written down just by listening to its sounds and choosing the matching letters. This simple idea quickly spread to other languages.

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IN WHAT LANGUAGE WAS THE BIBLE FIRST WRITTEN?

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The Old Testament tells the story of the Israelite people. Their language was Hebrew, and most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew. the Hebrew alphabet has 22 consonants, but no vowels (vowel sounds had to be added by the reader) Hebrew is read from right to left, so the first page of the Hebrew bible is our last page.
Above is a picture of a Hebrew scroll. It was dated to be made around 1250.

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Aramaic was spoken by the Persians, who were the major power in the Middle East for 200 years from about 550 BC.
Aramaic became the language used by traders in that region. Parts of the Old Testament books of Daniel, Ezra and Jeremiah were written in Aramaic.
By New Testament times, Aramaic was the everyday language of the Jews, and Jesus would have spoken it. However, Hebrew remained the language for prayer and worship. Educated people still understood Hebrew, but when the Hebrew Bible was read aloud in synagogue services, a translator often gave the meaning in Aramaic.

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Some manuscripts of parts of the Old Testament in Aramaic, called "Targums", have survived. They help us to discover the words of the original Hebrew.

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The Village In Syria Were They Speak Jesus' Tongue

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In 331 BC, the Greek general Alexander the Great conquered Persia. He now ruled the known ancient world, and "Common" Greek become the language that most people understood.
When the followers of Jesus wrote the Hew Testament, they wanted the whole known world to hear the good news, so they wrote in Greek, translating the Aramaic spoken by Jesus in the Greek language. In just a few places they retained original Aramaic words. For example when Jesus spoke to Jairus daughter, he said "Talitha, koum" - these were his actual Aramaic words. The Gospel writers gave us a Greek translation, which in English is "Little girl, I tell you to get up!" Mark 5:41
There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet, which was the first alphabet to include letters for vowels. Sentences and books were written from left to right.
In Revelation, God say; "I am the first and the last" who is, who was and who is to come" Revaltion 1:8

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Mysterious, Ancient Bible on Display | National Geographic

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In Sumer Archaeologists have found objects that tell us about Ancient Sumer life, rulers and beliefs.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a collection of stories written about a superhuman king called Gilgamesh.

They were written thousands of years ago on clay tablets.

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In 1450 occured an event that was radically to affect the sotry of the Bible; printing was invented.

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The Jewish scribes were important figures, because in early times they were often the only people who could read and write. They drew up wills and other legal documents, and kept records.

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When new copies of Old Testament scrolls were needed, every word had to be written out by hand. The scribes had the sacred task of preserving, copying out and explaining the teaching of the Old Testament.

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A visit to the sofer (scribe), Rabbi Eli Gutnick

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The Invention of the Printing Press -  Historical Curiosities - See U in History

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What Was Life Like? | Episode 5: Medieval - Meet a Medieval Monk

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The book of Kells - the bible written in the middle ages

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The book of Kells - the bible written in the middle ages

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Before the pyramids were built, the ancient Egyptians had learned to make papyrus paper from the pith (or inner stalk) of Nile papyrus reeds, which grew in marshy areas around Egypt. Still wet, the thick stems were laid out in rows on top of each other and beaten until they melded together into a flat paper surface. (Our word "paper" comes from papyrus) When this sheet had dried in the sun, it could be written on. Papyrus was expensive - but it could be re-used by washing, or by scraping.
Egyptian pens were brushes made from reeds and ink was derived from plants and insects.
What tools did a scribe use?

Scribes usually wrote on papyrus with reed brushes dipped in ink. The ancient Egyptians made ink by grinding brightly coloured minerals into powder, then mixing the powder with liquid so that it was easier to apply.

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The bible was written by 40 authors. All of these authors had different lives though, some were doctors, shepherds, kings and lawyers. Many scholars believe the bible was written through a series of gossip and passed news.

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The stories within the Bible have been discussed and passed down through generations for thousands of years. The exact timeline can vary depending on the specific stories and texts within the Bible.

For example, the events described in the Old Testament, which includes texts shared by Judaism and Christianity, span a considerable timeframe, with some texts believed to date back over 3,000 years even longer. The New Testament, specific to Christianity, covers events that took place in the first century AD, 2000 years ago.

The oral traditions and storytelling practices that preceded the written compilation of the Bible allowed for the transmission of these stories over generations. The Bible, as we know it today, is the result of a complex historical process involving various authors, editors, and communities spanning many centuries.

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initially written and copied by hand on papyrus scrolls.

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Each of the 40 authors were different to each other, some being tax collectors, doctors, shepherds, and kings

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In the Ancient Near East, clay tablets were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age

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Originally, the Bible was written in 3 different languages, Koine Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic

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Included among the scrolls are the oldest copies of books in the Hebrew Bible and many other ancient Jewish writings: prayers, commentaries, religious laws, magical and mystical texts. They have shed much new light on the origins of the Bible, Judaism and even Christianity.

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https://www.google.com.au/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwj03oGYzfP9AhUk1TgGHQcRAHMQtwJ6BAgKEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9HXFs4lm0hg&usg=AOvVaw01OJ4GLVbNCMgO5vPwpMax

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In ancient times, people would gather wet clay and the y would mark writings or record events. They would then leave the wet lay out in the sun for it to dry out they would put it in the fire for it to dry. They would then be stored in ancient libraries/archives for centuries. The people that wrote things on the clay tablets were usually the highly educated because back then, not many people knew how to write or read.

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Martin Luther: Great Translators of the Bible

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History of Bible Translation | Seed Company

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Pre- history - before words were written down either in symbols or pictures

history - when words are written down in symbols and pictures

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The exact timeline of this transition is not well-documented, but by the 4th century, the codex format became prevalent for Christian scriptures. The Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the 4th century, is one of the earliest surviving Christian Bibles in book form. The change from scrolls to bound books was influenced by factors such as ease of use, storage, and the desire to compile various writings into a single, cohesive volume.

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The timeline of the Bible's dissemination through various forms, from the codex to the printing press and then to Bible apps, is a fascinating journey. Here's a brief overview:

1. Codex (2nd Century AD):

Before the codex, scrolls were the primary form of written documentation. The codex, a bound book with pages, gained popularity around the 2nd century AD and allowed for easier access to specific passages.

Early Christian texts, including parts of the Bible, were copied and circulated in codex form.

2. Manuscript Copies (3rd - 15th Century):

In the medieval period, scribes meticulously copied the Bible by hand, often in monasteries. These illuminated manuscripts were highly valuable and time-consuming to produce.

3. Gutenberg Printing Press (1450):

Johannes Gutenberg's invention of the printing press around 1450 revolutionized book production. The Gutenberg Bible, printed in Latin, was one of the first major books printed using movable type.

The printing press dramatically increased the speed and efficiency of Bible reproduction, making it more accessible to a broader audience.

4. Translations and Vernacular Bibles (16th Century Onward):

The Renaissance and Reformation led to increased demand for vernacular translations of the Bible, making it accessible to non-Latin-speaking populations.

Notable translations include Martin Luther's German Bible (1522) and the King James Version (1611) in English.

5. Industrial Revolution (18th - 19th Century):

Technological advancements in printing technology continued to improve efficiency and reduce costs, making Bibles even more widely available.

6. Mass Production and Distribution (20th Century):

Modern printing methods, such as offset printing, enabled mass production of Bibles, leading to widespread distribution.

7. Digital Age and Bible Apps (Late 20th Century Onward):

The advent of computers and the internet facilitated the creation of digital Bible versions.

In the late 20th century and beyond, the rise of smartphones and tablets led to the development of Bible apps, providing easy access to the scriptures in various translations and languages.

8. Online Platforms and Social Media (21st Century):

Online platforms and social media have further expanded the reach of the Bible, with many websites and apps offering study tools, community features, and the ability to share passages easily.

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CAT Sheet 2025 - introducing the Bible year 7 assessment 