Nowadays we read text on screens or if we are old-fashioned like me, we use books. Also called a codex, the book as we know it combined the advantages of two different earlier methods of collecting written records. Pages in a book are a convenient rectangular shape, which was the main advantage of the clay tablets that were
used for recording information in many ancient nations. Paper has the added benefit of being flexible, and this was the main advantage of scrolls.
In this background article, we look at scrolls, their characteristics, advantages and drawbacks.
A scroll is a long strip of flexible material which can be rolled up so that it will not take
too much space. However, it normally only has writing on one side – not a very efficient use of materials. Even with the margins allowed for binding, printed books can use the available writing surfaces much more efficiently.
Papyrus
Plant material, particularly papyrus, was often
used for scrolls. The papyrus plant was very common in Egypt in ancient times and the writing material of the same name was made from the cellulose pith in the middle of its stalk. Papyrus was cheap and easy to make in rectangular sheets. However, it could not be folded without cracking. To make a larger document, several sheets would be fixed together and rolled into a scroll.
Papyrus could be made in varying
quality. Producing a page of consistent thickness was difficult, so the surface could be quite uneven, which made writing harder.
In dry conditions, papyrus lasted a very long time – ancient papyrus documents are still being found in Egypt – but it would rarely last more than a few decades in more humid climates such as Israel or Europe. The word “paper” in English comes from the word “papyrus”.
A few papyrus scrolls were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, but most of the scrolls were parchment.
Parchment or vellum
Well-prepared animal skins can also make very good surfaces for writing on. Parchment (normally made from goat or sheep skin) and vellum
(normally made from calves) are the two names usually used, although the naming is not always consistent. The skins were not tanned – tanning would make the skin much darker – so parchment is not leather. The skins were prepared by soaking to clean them, scraping to remove the hair, and stretching. Various chemical treatments may also have been used over time.
Younger animals produce better skins for writing on, so
parchment and vellum were expensive. A young lamb might provide enough skin for a high quality sheet of parchment about 30cm by 60-70cm.
The Great Isaiah Scroll found at Qumran is made of 17 sheets of parchment 28cm high and 43cm wide on average. These sheets were stitched together to form a single scroll. Obviously, a single large scroll on high quality parchment would use the skins of quite a few
animals.
Bible references
It is likely that any books referred to in the Bible are intended to refer to scrolls, although the imagery of a book of life is probably just as good as a scroll of life.
References to literal books or scrolls start
very early in the Bible and continue throughout, totalling about 200 by the end of the book of Revelation.
References
Papyrus: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus
Codex: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Codex
Parchment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment
Vellum:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vellum and http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Vellum
“The Roman Book” by Rex Winsbury
The Great Isaiah Scroll (http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/isaiah)
(to be continued in two weeks – God willing)
