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The Historical Background of The Ancient Scroll

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.

Introduction to the Scroll

Papyrus roll 2
Papyrus Roll. Courtesy of http://www.oddizzi.com/teachers/explore-the-world/country-close-up/egypt/ancient-egypt/hieroglyphics/.

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.

Scroll Production

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Papyrus plant. Courtesy of https://www.provenwinners.com/plants/cyperus/graceful-grasses-king-tut-egyptian-papyrus-cyperus-papyrus.

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.

Different Parts of a Scroll

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Rolled-up Scroll. Courtesy of http://artifaqs.co.uk/collections/ancient-egyptians.

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 kolleseis 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.

Different Grades of the Papyrus Scrolls

Bookroll-Script
Scroll with Greek text. Courtesty of http://thetextualmechanic.blogspot.com/2015/06/from-scroll-to-codex-early-christian.html.

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 Successor of Papyrus Scrolls

scroll&book
Scroll and Codex. Courtesy of http://donaldclarkplanb.blogspot.com/2012/09/books-paper-hardware-texts-software-its.html.

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

Bibliography

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.

18 thoughts on “The Historical Background of The Ancient Scroll

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  2. pei lu

    I enjoyed the research re the papyrus and codices wh U provided. I am particularly interested in
    the time of the Persian Empire (i.e. 5th century B.C.). Assuming that the Persians and their contemporaries used the papyrus predominantly for writing, did they also roll it in a scroll form and tie it with string
    as done later on? Also, when the scroll was sealed with wax as a formal document, did the waxed seal
    cover over the string that held the scroll together?

    This info is very crucial for some research I am doing. Any help wud be greatly appreciated. Thx.

    Reply
  3. Jadee Kelgor

    This is a question.
    I recently made a few scrolls as invitations.
    They were well received.
    They are simple having the right side a "core" with "handle". The top has a simple "finial".

    What are the "core" or "stick" with its "shield" for large scrolls called in Latin or Greek?

    Reply
  4. Shorab Hassan

    It’s a wonderful post. It’s very conducive for us. Types of posts have been searching by me.An article about post had been red by me some days ago. But article is better than post

    Reply
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  6. ANTHONY R CONYERS

    Hello. I am attempting to discover how scrolls were read on tables in ancient libraries. What kind of weights were used to prevent rollup , during reading or studying on the table tops. I have never seen reference to these " weights " , or where they have disappeared to or what they were made from.

    Reply
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