Luke 1:63 - "And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, ‘His name is John.’ And they all marveled."

The knowledge of writing was possessed by the Hebrews at a very early period, and, during various periods of biblical time, different types of materials were written on. Among these materials were stone, metal, papyrus, wood, leather, and parchment. In fact, at one time, papyrus was in such great use, that our word "paper" has been derived from it.

Papyrus was prepared as a writing material by taking strong branches of the papyrus plant and stripping them of their bark. These fibers were then separated into thin strips placed side by side in two superimposed layers, the first in one direction, and the second crosswise. The sheets were then hammered to make them thinner and polished with pumice stone.

Wooden tablets were coated with stucco when used as writing material, or, sometimes, wax was used to coat them. Animal skins were tanned in a special way and then used as a medium for writing important documents. Clay tablets were common in most civilizations. And, as any archaeology student will tell you, potsherds or broken pieces of pottery were often made use of for short letters and business transactions. When they are found today, these "ostraca" are very valuable, and have given us many insights into ancient civilizations.

Ink was used at any early age; in fact, some of it was so durable that it has remained legible after 3,000 years! This ink was probably made of lampblack and gum, and mixed with water on a palette when needed.

There were also various kinds of pens to correspond with the medium on which the writing was to be done. Jeremiah speaks of an iron pen, but most were made of reeds with softened fibers at one end. The other end could be sharpened easily with a knife. And, if you made a mistake, there were even special kinds of sponges to wipe it out!

The manufacture of writing materials is still big business today, as witness all the stationery stores in our cities. And the makers of all the materials for communicating our messages to others through the medium of writing are carrying on an old tradition.