A Written Record of Achievements 



Babylon, Chaldea, and many of the ancient nations of 

 western Asia left their records on tablets of clay in cunei- 

 form characters. These tablets were made first into a form 

 of stiff mud on which the cuneiform characters were 

 inscribed with a sharp instrument and then the tablet was 

 baked in an oven. Edward Clodd again tells us that the 

 Babylonian writings "had passed the pictographic stage 

 long before eight thousand years ago." Thousands of these 

 tablets have been uncovered and their cuneiform inscrip- 

 tions translated. 



Papyrus paper was in general use in Egypt, Greece, 

 Rome and other Mediterranian countries covering a period 

 of more than 4,000 years. For what greater period of time 

 it was in use, we do not know. It was not the only object 

 or substance on which was written a record of man's activi- 

 ties in the early written history of civilization. Other sub- 

 stances and objects were used in the early days upon which 

 man inscribed a record of his acts and conveyed his mes- 

 sages just as he does today. Inscriptions were made on 

 oyster shells, wood, leather, and carved in stone and bronze, 

 but the paper of commerce was made from the papyrus 

 plant. 



The papyrus plant is no longer found where it once 

 flourished in such vast quantities. Its use continued in 

 Greece until about the year 670 A. D. During the last few 

 centuries of its use it was no longer joined or made in rolls, 

 but instead the records were kept on sheets in much the same 

 fashion as the sheets of music are kept today. 



The inscriptions written on papyri rolls and clay tablets 

 many centuries ago show a similarity of interests of people 



[55] 



