The history of the book has its roots in the distant past. Different peoples came to writing in different ways, using different materials for writing: stone, brush, - presentation

The Bible is a very ancient book, but it is by no means the oldest book in the world. Discoveries of the last century indicate that the art of writing was widespread in many countries long before the emergence of the Jewish people in Palestine. The earliest examples of writing take us to the ancient lands of Egypt and Mesopotamia. We do not know exactly where and when writing originated. Naturally, it did not happen that someone sat down, thought and said: “Today I am going to invent the art of writing.” What is known is that a limestone tablet with inscriptions relating to the Sumerian civilization, which dates back to approximately 3500 BC, has survived to this day. It is also known that, by at least 3000 BC, Egyptian hieroglyphs were still in development. In Palestine itself, letters written by city rulers date back to around 1400 BC. This type of information is important when discussing the origins of the Bible, since previously Bible critics have argued skeptically that writing was not yet known at the time of Moses, and therefore Moses could not have been the author of the first five books of the Bible. We now know that writing was already in widespread use many centuries before Moses, which means that there is no reason to argue that Moses could not have written the books of which he is credited with authorship.

The ancient peoples of Palestine and the states adjacent to them adopted different materials for writing. The Bible itself contains references to many such materials.

1. Stone. In almost every corner of the world, the material on which the most ancient writings were written was stone. In Egypt and Babylon, the earliest inscriptions were made on stone. The most ancient portions of Jewish writings in question found in Palestine were also written on stones. Of these, the best examples are the Moab Stone and the Siloam Inscription. The Moab Stone was erected by a Moabite king named Mesha around 850 BC. and tells of the rebellion of the Moabites against Joram, king of Israel. The Siloam Inscription tells of the construction of a tunnel made in the wall enclosing the fountain of Siloam in Jerusalem. The inscription probably came down to us from the time of King Hezekiah and dates back to about 700 BC. That these early examples of writing were written on stone is strikingly consistent with the biblical account, since most early material for writing, mentioned in the Old Testament, there was a stone. As you know, the Ten Commandments were originally written on stone. The book of Exodus says: “And when God had ceased speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him two tablets of stone, on which was written by the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18, cf. Exodus 34:1, 28). After the Jewish people crossed the Jordan, they were commanded to set up stones with the words of the law carved on them. (Deut. 27:2-3, cf. Joshua 8:30-32).

2. Clay. In Assyria and Babylon, clay was the predominant writing material. In these places, huge libraries of clay tablets were excavated from the ground. For example, the library of the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (c. 650 BC) was discovered, containing thousands of tablets with records on various topics. In Syria, near the cities of Ras Shamra (in ancient times Ugarit) and Ebla, huge repositories of clay tablets were brought to light in a similar way. Recent excavations near Ebla have uncovered more than 16,000 clay tablets dating back to 2500 BC. In Egypt they also used clay. This is confirmed by the discovery of more than 350 tablets in the heart of Egypt, known as Tel el-Amarna. The tablets, usually oblong in shape, were written on while they were wet and then fired or simply allowed to dry in the sun. The clay material is mentioned in Ezekiel 4:1, where the prophet is commanded to draw the plan of Jerusalem on tiles.

3. Tree. Quite often in ancient times, wooden tablets were used for writing. In Greece, tablets were a common writing material for many centuries. In Athens in the fourth century BC, such tablets were bleached in lime mortar to better hold ink, and were used for keeping official records. Writing tablets have also been discovered in Egypt and Palestine. It is likely that such tablets are also mentioned in Isaiah 30:8 and Habakkuk 2:2.

4. Leather. Animal skins played an important role in the history of the Bible for many centuries. Although leather is not specifically mentioned in the Old Testament, it is undeniable that it was the main material used by the Jews for writing. The scribe's knife, used to correct errors, is mentioned in Jeremiah 36:23. This is good evidence that the scroll referred to in this verse was made of leather, since a sharp instrument such as a knife could not be used on thin writing material. According to other sources, the Old Testament Scriptures were written on leather and have come down to us in this form. The Jewish Talmud, which is a collection of commentaries and additions to the Old Testament, specifically required that the Scriptures be written on animal skins, which also undoubtedly reflects ancient traditions. Thus, we can confidently conclude that the Old Testament Scriptures were usually applied to the skin of animals prepared in a special way. Perhaps when Paul asked for the books of leather (2 Tim. 4:13), he meant copies of parts of the Old Testament.

5. Papyrus. The important role that leather played in Old Testament times was played by papyrus in New Testament times. Indeed, of all the writing materials available, papyrus was the most important and so common in ancient times that one can be almost certain that the original messages of the New Testament were written on sheets of papyrus. In the past, entire plantations of the reed from which papyrus was made were located along the Nile River. This explains its early use, around 3000 BC, in Egypt as a writing material. The popularity of papyrus spread from Egypt to neighboring countries, and its use became so widespread that it became a universal medium for creating books in Greece and Rome. By the fourth century BC, the use of papyrus had become so widespread that the great historian Herodotus could hardly recognize people who used anything other than papyrus as civilized. He wrote: “The Ionian paper scrolls were also called parchment, because previously, when paper was rare, they used instead the skins of sheep or goats - a material on which many barbarians are still in the habit of writing.” The word “paper,” naturally, did not mean modern paper, but papyrus, and Herodotus in his time called those who did not use it barbarians.

The production of papyrus sheets is one of the indicators of the level of skill of people who lived in the distant past. Thin strips were cut from the core of the reed stems and laid close together to form a leaf. The second layer was laid across the first and bonded to it through moisture and pressure. After drying and polishing, the sheet became ready for use. Sometimes papyrus was used simply in the form of single sheets, as, for example, for writing a letter or receipt; in other cases, the sheets were joined together to form a scroll. In ancient times, up to the first or second centuries AD, papyrus scrolls were called "books".

Almost all of us have heard about papyrus scrolls. What did they look like and what were they used for? Papyrus scrolls varied in length, but the average scroll was 9 meters long and 25 centimeters wide. Usually only one side was used for writing, although sometimes scribes might use both sides of a scroll (compare Rev. 5:1). The text was written in columns of varying widths, on average from 7 to 10 centimeters. Often the inner edge of the scroll (sometimes both edges) was attached to a wooden handle to make it easier to unroll and roll. The title of the document was written on a separate strip of papyrus, which was attached to the outside of the scroll. Often the scroll was placed in a protective shell and stored in a wooden box.

However, approximately in the first or second century after the birth of Christ, papyrus scrolls began to give way to new types of papyrus books, the so-called papyrus codes. A manuscript codex is simply what we call a book today. In other words, soon after the birth of Christ, people began stitching sheets of papyrus together to form a book, rather than attaching them to each other to form a scroll. Codexes or books have certain advantages over scrolls: they are more convenient to carry and use for quickly finding references; in addition, they could contain more information compared to an average length scroll. For these reasons, early Christians preferred codices to scrolls when copying and distributing the New Testament Scriptures. Indeed, it seems that it was thanks to the Christians that the codes gained early and widespread use.

6. Vellum or parchment. Vellum gained fame and widespread use as a writing material thanks to the efforts of King Eumenes II of Asia Minor (197-158 BC), who lived in the city of Pergamon. Eumenes II sought to create a world-class library, but the Egyptian king attempted to thwart his plans by stopping the supply of papyrus from Egypt. The only alternative for King Eumenes was to create his own writing materials, for which he perfected the process of working leather. The result of these improvements was what we now call vellum or parchment.

Nowadays, the terms "vellum" and "parchment" are used interchangeably and refer to any kind of animal skin treated for the purpose of writing on it. However, the original word "vellum", from which the English word is derived veal, meant the skin of calves and antelopes, while the word "parchment" was applied to the skin of sheep and goats. The word "vellum" always implied that the skin was good quality and differed from ordinary leather in that it was not tanned. Learning about vellum and its place in the history of writing is especially important because it was used for over a thousand years to make copies of the New Testament. This in turn requires consideration of the preparation of vellum. This complex process began with the skin removed from the killed animal being stretched and dried. The hair was removed from one side of the skin, and the remains of the animal's body from the other, after which the skin was polished with stones on both sides. Vellum sheets were cut and folded in the middle so that the outer side of the sheet was facing the outside, and the inside was facing the inside. Using a sharp tool, lines were drawn on the sheets so that grooves remained on one side and convex lines on the other. Texts in vellum codices were written in columns, first three or four columns per page, and then one or two.

Vellums look very beautiful. Two of the most valuable New Testament manuscripts in existence today are outstanding examples of very High Quality. Sometimes, for a special effect, the vellum was painted purple, and the inscription was written in gold or silver. However, the most valuable characteristic of vellum is its durability. Papyrus by its nature is more fragile and short-lived, and is also susceptible to decay. For this reason, and also because of the shortage of papyrus, its displacement by vellum became inevitable, so that from the fourth century until the Middle Ages, the main medium for transmitting and preserving the written Word of God was vellum.

7. Paper. Paper also has its origins in the ancient world. Its production from fibrous materials has been practiced in China since the second century BC, but it took a long time before the secret of its production became known to the rest of the world. This happened around the eighth century AD, when the Arabs captured several Chinese who knew the art of paper making. Gradually, knowledge about the methods of making paper began to spread, and by the thirteenth century most of Europe was already using paper. A significant portion of biblical manuscripts, especially those originating in the East, are written on paper.

8. Other materials. Materials such as wax, gold, silver, copper, lead, bone, linen, and broken pottery were also used for writing in ancient times, but those listed above are of importance in the study of biblical history. The tool used by the scribe depended on the nature of the surface on which the text was written. If the writing material was wax or clay, then a sharp instrument called stylus In the case of using papyrus, it was used feather. There is no doubt that such a pen is mentioned in 3 John 13. The ink varied in composition, but those used to write manuscripts on vellums were very durable

Traditionally, on Saturdays, we publish for you the answers to the quiz in the “Question - Answer” format. We have a variety of questions, both simple and quite complex. The quiz is very interesting and quite popular, we are simply helping you test your knowledge and make sure that you have chosen the correct answer out of the four proposed. And we have another question in the quiz - What was not used for writing in the past?

• papyrus
• bumazea
• parchment
• clay tablets

The correct answer is B. on the upper deck

Bumazeya, or Bombazin, is a fabric that has incredible interesting story. It is still not known for certain where this fabric came from. Some believe that it is from Italy, others claim that it is from France, and still others believe that its roots lie in Spain. And most importantly, from the name of the fabric its origin is also unclear. Bumazeya is a Russian interpretation of the original name bombazine, which goes back to the Spanish or French roots of the product. "Bombazine" or "bombasin" are translated from Spanish and French, respectively, as "cotton" or "cotton fabric".

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Almost as long as humans have existed, letters have existed. The man felt a great desire to send his letter to others. But before people learned to write, they asked messengers or friends for help to convey some information to another person.

But only after the invention of writing, people could convey their thoughts to another person without intermediaries.

In ancient Egypt, messages were tightly wound on a special stick, and they were written on papyrus. After writing, they gave this stick to the messenger, who took it to the recipient. People already understood the importance of transmitting information at that time. The messengers defended themselves special law and enjoyed privileges. Messengers from ancient Greece enjoyed similar rights.

In Ancient Rome, road networks developed very well, and people came up with faster transport and recipients received letters much faster, and people began to move faster.

But then it was still very far from the advent of a special postal service. It was only when many roads were built and trade between countries began to develop that people began to think seriously about mail.

Special horse replacement stations were placed on the roads; a person could replace his tired horse with an already rested one. Also, various carts and carriages appeared near the stations. Of course, they transported letters, cargo and people. Special postal service appeared in a number of European countries. The letters were placed in bags on which they wrote where to deliver them, after which they were given to the carrier.

Of course, their delivery was irregular and very slow. Everything depended on the condition of the roads and the condition of the drivers. In summer, letters were transported more slowly, and in winter faster. Only after the postal service also began to transport letters did the work immediately go faster.

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