Learning About Papyrology : Ancient Writing Materials : Wood

Wood was one of the earliest materials used for writing - it is cheap and easy inscribe or write on with ink. Even after the discovery of other materials, wood continued to be used for various purposes. One interesting use of wood is the mummy tag. A mummy tag is a piece of wood tied with a string around the neck of a mummy, displaying the name of the mummified person. These tags, which have been likened to modern toe-tags, must have been essential for avoiding embarrassing mix-ups at the mummy morgue!

The mummy tag shown below contains the name written in ink on the front (below, left) and inscribed, or carved into the wood, on the back (below, right).

wooden mummy tag for a woman named Anoubiaina
inv. 4533.10
full image: front | back

Another example of wood as a writing material is this schoolboy's writing tablet below. If you look closely at the front side, you will see that each column contains a series of syllables, in which each of the vowels is put between two consonants (e.g. bab, beb, bib, bob, bub).

wooden tablet writing exercise
full image: front

On the back side, the alphabet is written in three different ways. First, from alpha to omega. Second, from omega to alpha. Third, alternating first and last letters (alpha followed by omega, then beta followed by psi, etc.) This was a standard way of learning the Greek alphabet.

wooden tablet writing exercise
full image: back

Wooden tablets were ideal for schoolchildren because they were cheap and reusable - the water-based ink could be cleaned off to begin a new exercise. However, tablets were not only for schoolboys; the Vindolanda writing tablets, discovered in an ancient fort in Britian, demonstrate the extensive use of wooden tablets by the Roman military.

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