Ancient writing materials reveal ancient culture

Highlights

Ancient Writing Materials Reveal Ancient Culture. Letters travelled from one country to another ,from one culture to another ,from one area to another while doing so they travelled in another sense also.

Letters travelled from one country to another ,from one culture to another ,from one area to another while doing so they travelled in another sense also.The different type of materials on which they were written. Writing from those times can be said as the initial stage ,the infant stage when expressions from cave paintings started separating and taking the form of writing.. When we observe this stage closely ,it will appear to us how difficult the situation was .There was no specific writing material at that time .It depended solely on the writers choice.Whatever the writer found in front of his eyes those became his notebook-they were birch-bark, palm-leaves and copper- plates. Besides these, agaru- bark, bricks, earthenware, shell, ivory, cloth, wood, etc-absolutely anything became writing material.This type of expressions carried for a long time. Paper has been used in India only for about a thousand years.

OSTRACA

In ancient time during the greek time ,the Greeks used to vote on pieces of pot by writing on them as we vote on paper these days .These pot pieces were known as ostraca.In our country during old republic rule voting was done with pieces of wood known as salaka.In foreign countries even after the wide circulation of papyrus papers,some writers due to poverty could not afford them and instead used pieces of pot-ostraca for writing. A tale goes like one scholar for writing purpose broke all pots and clay utensils in his home! It is said that once in Egypt ,Roman soldiers and officers working there wrote their receipts and accounts on pot pieces due to unavailability of papyrus.

PAPYRUS ROLL

Papyrus, writing material of ancient times and also the plant from which it was derived, Cyperus papyrus (family Cyperaceae), also called paper plant. Paper made from papyrus was the chief writing material in ancient Egypt, was adopted by the Greeks, and was used extensively in the Roman Empire. The fibrous layers within the stem of the plant were removed, and a number of these longitudinal strips were placed side by side and then crossed at right angles with another set of strips. The two layers formed a sheet, which was then dampened and pressed. Upon drying, the glue like sap of the plant acted as an adhesive and cemented the layers together. The sheet was finally hammered and dried in the sun. The paper thus formed was pure white in color and, if well-made, was free of spots, stains, or other defects. A number of these sheets were then joined together with paste to form a roll, with usually not more than 20 sheets to a roll. It was used not only for the production of books but also for correspondence and legal documents.

STONE INSCRIPTION

Stone was the principal writing material in use in ancient India. Putting inscriptions on stone pillars is a very old tradition.
Emperor Ashoka (272-232 BC) got his edicts inscribed on rocks and also on stone pillars. Made of sandstone quarried from Chunar (UP), the pillars are monolithic and highly polished. Some of the pillars are 15 m high and weigh nearly 50 tons. These Ashokan pillars can be seen in Delhi, Allahabad, Lumbini and several other sites. There are also other kinds of Pillars. The Dwajastambha, which often carried an inscription, was erected in the courtyard of a temple. The Jayastambha carried an eulogy of a victorious king. The Kirtistambha was erected to commemorate some pious deed. Virastambha was put up in memory of a warrior who died fighting the enemy. The sacrificial pillar, called Yupastambha, also carried inscriptions. Stone engravings were made on rocks, slabs, smoothed or rough pillars, images, caskets, vases, etc. Stone slabs or columns used to be inscribed with grant-deeds, royal eulogy, proclamations, agreements between individuals or kings and even with literary works. For example, the Kurmashataka, a poetical work in Prakrita by the scholar-king Bhoja of Dhara (Malwa) is engraved on stone slabs.

BUDDHIST BRICKS

Most of the early inscribed bricks carry Buddhist sutras, the letters having been scratched on the moist clay, before it was baked. Inscribed clay seals have been obtained from Nalanda and several other ancient sites. Buddhists used to write their religious principles on bricks and add them to other bricks and build a wall. some such bricks have been preserved in Mathura museum.These bricks are about 2300 years old. In Gopalpur village of Gorakhpur district such type of 3 bricks are found.The length of these bricks is 11 ½ inches ,width is 4 ½ inches .On these bricks some 11 to 12 lines have been carved.They are about 1700 years old.In Ujjain of Nainital district two such bricks were found.