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35,000 years ago: Cave paintings at Chauvet 

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35,000 years ago: Cave paintings at Chauvet 

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Chauvet Cave: The First Known Masterpiece of Humanity - Google Arts & Culture

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3,200 BCE: Cuniform emerges as the first form of writing

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3,200 BCE: Cuniform emerges as the first form of writing

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Learn how to write cuneiform - the oldest form of writing in the world - with curator Irving Finkel, using a lolly stick and piece of clay!

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3000 BCE: Heiroglyphs symbols matched to language

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3000 BCE: Heiroglyphs symbols matched to language

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The hidden world of ancient Egypt was revealed through the discovery of the Rosetta Stone, which provided the key to decoding hieroglyphs.

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2568 BCE: Scrolls were the first form of editable record keeping

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2568 BCE: Scrolls were the first form of editable record keeping

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This post will provide you with an overview that will leave you with a general idea of the different aspects of the scroll from production to importance.

A scroll was a roll constructed of material that ranged from papyrus to parchment. However, the material taken from a papyrus plant predominately composed the scrolls of the ancient world. Since 3000 BC, the plant was native only to Egypt and considered the major distributor to the rest of the Mediterranean world. On the other hand, when the papyrus plant was no longer cultivated as writing material, the act caused the extinction of the species, Cyperus Papyrus L., in Egypt. As a result, the modern-day papyrus in Egypt came from Paris.

The knowledge of the production of a papyrus sheet is unknown as the Egyptians never recorded the process. However, many scholars reconstructed knowledge of the process through the analysis of Pliny's somewhat misinformed description and modern-day experimentation. And so much of what is known about the process comes from Pliny's account. The only place to obtain any papyrus was from Egypt as papyrus could only be manufactured from fresh papyrus.

A construction of two layers of papyrus fibers, which were laid perpendicularly to each other, made up a papyrus sheet. The process began from the act of separating the entire triangular stalk into very thin, but broad strips. The papyrus strips were then flattened onto a board, wet from the Nile. Then, the ends of the strips were squared off to form neater borders of the two layers. The strips were then pounded with a mallet to remove the excess water. The layers were then pressed forming sheets. After the sheet was formed, the sheet was left to dry in the sun. On individual sheets, any rough spots were rubbed smooth using ivory and shell, so writing surface was not as scaly. In order to create a roll, the sheets were glued together with a paste made from flour that dissolved in boiling water and mixed together with vinegar.

A conventional roll was sold as twenty sheets pasted together. However, a scribe possessed the ability to determine the length of the roll by cutting off or adding individual sheets to their desired length for the text. With that in mind, the longest Ancient Egyptian roll was around 40 meters (131 feet). Also, a Greek roll did not exceed more than 11 meters (36 feet). The beginning of the roll began with the protokollon or unwritten sheets and often ended with an umbilicus, which was a wooden stick unattached used for unrolling. The sheets were pasted in a way that the left side of a sheet was always over the right in any kolleseis or join. In determining which side of the papyrus was the verso or recto, the kollese is was vital. The side that was written on was the horizontal side, which was called a recto, where the fibers were parallel to the length of the roll and lines of writing. Writing on the verso or vertical side was unusual, but was still acceptable. A scroll was usually only written on one side unless the scroll was reused, becoming a palimpsest or a piece of writing material where the original writing was washed off and new writing was made. The end of the papyrus stalk could be used as a tie to secure a scroll for storage.

The quality of a scroll was reliant on the grade of papyrus used and the scribe's own work. The quality was measured by fineness, firmness, whiteness, smoothness, and variation in breadth. The difference in quality of papyrus allowed the variants to be used for different things. The different grade of papyrus stemmed from the different parts of the plant being used and where the sheets were manufactured. For example, the hieratic grade came from the center of the plant and was mostly used for religious texts. The amphitheatric grade originated from the name of its manufacture place. The manufacture place was in Rome ran by Fannius, who was a grammarian. He, in order to make better quality papyrus, added a third layer, making the papyrus finer. The saitic grade of papyrus was eponymous with the city where the papyrus was manufactured and consisted mainly of scraps, making the papyrus felt like bark. The taenotic papyrus was made from papyrus that was near the outside skin and was not sold by its quality, but rather by its weight. The emporitic papyrus was useless as writing material so the papyrus was used for envelopes or merchandise wrapping paper by dealers. From antiquity, around 3000 scrolls survived with texts ranging from treaties to medical knowledge to classical texts. The text was arranged into columns. A vast majority of the papyri was literary in that they contained epics, dramas, prose, and history. However, there were also commentaries, grammatical treatises, and technical knowledge. In addition, many of surviving texts on papyrus are Greek and Latin literature. During antiquity, the rolls were more associated with the classical elite as mass readership was uncommon and papyrus could be very expensive, depending on its quality.

The papyrus scroll was replaced by the parchment codex because parchment was far stronger, flexible, and did not deteriorate with age. Despite its heavy use, the disadvantages of the roll were far too many compared to the parchment. Parchment was immensely easier to copy onto than the papyrus as the parchment did not have any visible fibers, making a rough surface like the papyrus. The codex was favored because the codex was more economical compared to the roll. The act of copying onto parchment was more advantageous because the act would have ensured the text's survival as the re-rolling caused significant fraying. The supersession of the papyrus scroll by the codex form was gradual and took many years to become the more popular book form used. Around 4 AD, the number of codices outnumbered the number of scrolls as the advantages of the codex was more attractive to the Christians, since the codex was stronger, more flexible, and more durable to hold their texts than papyrus scrolls.

To conclude, much of what we know about literary works from papyrus scrolls are in fragments, no longer bound in scroll form, but nevertheless the discoveries give us a glimpse of the ancient world. Hopefully, you are left more informed about all the different aspects of the papyrus scroll.

To learn more, check out these posts:

On how to construct your very own scroll, check out Emily's post:
How to Make a Scroll
On more information about papyrus, check out Brophy's post:
Papyrus: A Brief History For more information on general information on Papyrus scrolls:
Bulow-Jacobsen, Adam. "Writing Material in the Ancient World". The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology. By Roger S. Bagnall Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Johnson, William. "The Ancient Book". The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology. By Roger S. Bagnall Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.

Rohmann, Dirk. "Books." The Encyclopedia of Ancient History. By Roger S. Bagnall. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. Print.
For more information on different grades of Papyrus:
Pearse, Roger. "The Different Grades of Papyrus in Use in Antiquity, According to Pliny and Isidore." Web log post. Roger Pearse. WordPress, 29 June 2012. Web.
For more information on the literature on scrolls:
Renner, Timothy. "Papyrology and Ancient Literature". The Oxford Handbook of Papyrology. By Roger S. Bagnall Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print.
For more information on the transition of scroll to codex:
Roberts, Colin H., and T. C. Skeat. The Birth of the Codex. London: Published for the British Academy by the Oxford UP, 1983. Print.

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The Historical Background of The Ancient Scroll

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This post will provide you with an overview that will leave you with a general idea of the different aspects of the scroll from production to importance. A scroll was a roll constructed of material that ranged from papyrus to parchment. However, the material taken from a papyrus plant predominately composed the scrolls of the ancient world.

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1st and 2nd Century: Codex is the first format of the book

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1st and 2nd Century: Codex is the first format of the book

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Background of the Codex: A codex (Latin for block of wood, plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books, with separate pages normally bound together and given a cover. Although the modern book is technically a codex, the term is used only for manuscripts.

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869 CE Printing Press: Invented in China 

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869 CE Printing Press: Invented in China 

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Printing Press - Invented, Gutenberg, Significance | HISTORY

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The printing press, which allows for the mass production of printed matter, originated in China before Johannes Guten…

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1440s CE: Gutenberg develops the printing press

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1440s CE: Gutenberg develops the printing press

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The printing press, invented by German goldsmith Johann Gutenberg in 1448, has been called one of the most important inventions in the history of humankind. For the first time, the device made it possible for the common man, woman, and child to have access to books, which meant that they would have the unprecedented ability to accumulate knowledge.

Before the invention of the printing press, the majority of books were written and copied by hand. Block printing was becoming more popular, which involved carving each page of a text into a block of wood and pressing each block onto paper. Because these processes were so labor-intensive, books were very expensive, and only the rich could afford them.

Believed to have been born in Mainz, Germany, in approximately 1399, Gutenberg, nee Johann Gensfleisch later adopted his family's settling place as his last name. He was trained as a goldsmith, gem cutter, and metallurgist. For some time he lived in Strasbourg, most likely in the late 1430s to early 1440s. By then, he had been losing money in his business and began looking for a way to make money to pay off his debts.

He started working on a device that would make it possible to print texts using movable blocks of letters and graphics. These blocks, used with paper, ink, and a press, would make it possible to print books much faster and more cheaply than ever before. He used metals that he was familiar with - lead, antimony, and tin - to cast 290 blocks of letters and symbols, and he created a linseed- and soot-based ink of the consistency he believed to be ideal for printing on handmade paper. He adapted a wine press that allowed him to slide paper in and out of it and to squeeze water from the paper after printing.

He tested his moveable type machine by printing a Latin book on speech-making in 1450. When this endeavor was successful, he embarked on his most famous project, the printing of "The Gutenberg Bibles."

The bibles, printed in Latin, gained fame as the first books ever printed in Europe and the first bibles printed in history. Two hundred copies were made, each complete with beautiful illustrations and vibrant colors. Part of Gutenberg's genius was his technique for creating blocks to represent the calligraphy done in handmade volumes, so that the richness of the original texts could be preserved. Characters and illustrations were later hand-illuminated. Today, only 22 of the original Gutenberg bibles are known to be in existence.

Gutenberg's business partner Johann Fust eventually gained ownership of the printing business and completed the printing of the bibles. This was the result of a deal made between the two men, necessitated by debts that Gutenberg owed to Fust.

Gutenberg died in approximately 1468 in Mainz. It should be noted that others in history claim to have come up with the idea of movable type earlier than Gutenberg did, including a Dutchman and a Chinese inventor. A system similar to his is said to have also been used in the 12th century in Korea. But for whatever reason, Gutenberg's endeavor was the first to be successful, and his printing press had a revolutionary impact on history and the entire world.

The printing press and all that it brought to the masses helped to inspire a religious revolution, as families were, for the first time, able to possess a Bible for their own interpretation. In fact, the Protestant Revolution wouldn't have been possible without the availability of the printing press. It also factored into the progress of science, general education, and is said to have been key in moving the world out of the Medieval era into the Early Modern period.

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The printing press, invented by German goldsmith Johann Gutenberg in 1448, has been called one of the most important inventions in the history of humankind. For the first time, the device made it possible for the common man, woman, and child to have access to books, which meant that they would have the unprecedented ability to accumulate knowledge.