The Papyrus Roll in Egypt, Greece, and Rome Blog 4/5

Summary

1. Papyrus was the primary material used to record documents, scripts and texts in ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Papyrus derives from the plant, which comes from marshes of the Nile Delta.  Because of its abundance in the region, the material was exported from Egypt all along the Mediterranean. The process of converting Papyrus into paper included the stripping away of the sheath from the stem, then the sheaths were laid down side by side which were glued together using the sap from the stem as an adhesive. As time went on and the codex form was introduced, Papyrus became a redundant material to use for the production of books. Egypt is still the only country to produce and sell Papyrus.
2. Writing materials from the Ancient worlds tell us about the social roles of the materials used. For men, a Papyrus roll indicated literacy and an ideal education. For women, wax tablets indicated a good house wife that kept records carefully.  Similarly, there was a hierarchy within the realm of scribes. In Rome and Greece, the act of copying was not a worthy act, as it was more worthy to read, and slaves were used to copy scripts. However, in Egypt scribes held the most honorable and prestigious position, as only the educated and elite few knew how to read and write. The materials used also varied between the empires. In Egypt, scribes used soft brush like pens. This may have been because they were usually sitting on the floor with the roll in their laps. In Greece and Rome, scribes used hard writing instrument, which may have been because they used wooden boards and tables to write on. 
3. The market of antiquity was different from the modern book market. In one way the market was limited to the elite and educated few. Because of this, there were very little people who would buy books. The second difference is that copying process required a master text which was either provided by someone who wanted the text copied for themselves or to sale. This made it difficult for the production and distribution of books. In addition there was no publisher in the modern sense of the word. In antiquity, usually bookshop owners were the focus of distribution and provided copies by using slaves to copy texts.
4. Books became a symbol of status. Their contents were indications of belonging to a the higher social and economic ranks in which only a few could read and write. The texts read determined the tastes and reading habits of adults. For instance, the most frequently read text was Homer. This was because Homer was the idea of a noble education for a good moral man. However, this changed with the introduction of novels. Novels were a form a text that allowed those who were less educated to enjoy the "great works". As the Christian era came along, Homer was seen more as a text that provided moral guidance, whereas the Bible was the primary source of formal education.

Comment

After some time, the papyrus roll was abandoned completely for the codex form. This was due to the fact that the codex was less fragile, had a greater capacity to hold information, and its pages were easily accessible. In addition, the different forms of books had to do with religion and ideology. As the Torah was more on a papyrus roll, Christians felt that their holy scriptures should be in the codex form in order. This was in an effort to separate themselves from Judaism and the Old Testament. What is most interesting to me is the idea of Homer becoming a text that was used for moral guidance while the Bible became a text of a formal education. It is interesting because as we have evolved as a civilization, the Bible too has now become a text which is used for moral guidance, whereas other forms of literature are used as a primary source for a formal education. 

Question

My question then is, with the digital age, what sources may then become the primary focus of a formal education? As we move away from traditional texts as the focus of a formal education, what will become of these old texts? Will the digital era allow these texts to reinvent themselves into circulation, or will they become mere objects of study?