What kind of materials is the Bible’s handwriting written on?
In the previous article, we became familiar with how papyrus is made. In this second part, we shall take a closer look at the materials of parchment and vellum.
What is parchment?
Parchment is treated leather – usually sheep, goat or calf. According to the Roman author Plinius the Elder (23 – 79 AD), parchment was invented in Pergamon[i] in 200 BC – thus the name parchment[ii]. But parchment had been used long before this. For example, the Greek Herodotus, who lived in 400 BC, writes: “From ancient times, even the Ionians call books for leather, because they in lack of papyrus used goat and sheep skins. Even currently, the Berbers write on such skins” (Herodots Historie, 5:58). The reason for Plinius the Elder meant that parchment was invented in Pergamon, could be because the preparation method was improved there. Thus, writing on both sides of the parchment became possible, and the method was adopted to a greater extent.
The process
To make parchment[iii] was a slow and complex process that needed great skill. The work started by finding the right animal, something that was of great importance. This had to be animals that had few injuries or illnesses because it could have left marks on the hide. The craftsman also had to consider the colour of the wool or hair since this affected the colour of the parchment.
After the animal had been selected and skinned, the process to clean the hide began. Usually, this was done by placing the hide in a lime solution to remove fat, remnants of hair on the outside and shreds of meat on the inside. Afterwards, the craftsman strung up the leather to a wooden frame to dry. Tensioning the leather and stretching it was important to achieve as smooth a surface as possible. When the leather had fully dried, the last remnants of hair and meat were removed. Lastly, the leather was polished and sanded with chalk or pumice. After the leather was smooth and flexible, the parchment was ready to be used. The whole process took several months to complete.
What is vellum paper?
Vellum[iv] is a parchment of an exceptionally high quality. To produce vellum, only particularly fine hide from calves, baby goats or stillborn or newborn lambs were used. The result was an incredibly thin parchment that could be bound as a codex or a book. Vellum was used until paper took over.
Paul was very familiar with the material parchment. 2 Timotheus 4: 13: “When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments”.
In the Nordic Bible Museum giftshop, you can buy parchment to write on.
In the final part of the series, you will learn a rare expression, namely palimpsest.
Bibliography
http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/parchment.html (accessed 23.10.18)
http://edu.hioa.no/helgerid/litteraturogmedieleksikon/pergament.pdf (accessed 23.10.18)
https://historienet.no/sivilisasjoner/egyptere/hva-er-forskjellen-pa-papyrus-og-perga (accessed 20.10.18)
https://www.bibel.no/InnholdTilblivelse/Tilblivelse/Den__materielle__Bibelen (accessed 28.10.18)
Footnotes
[i] Pergamon was an ancient Greek town located in today’s Turkey, approx. 26 km from the Aegean Sea, on a hill on the north side of the river Kaikos river.
[ii] The word comes from the Latin word pergamena, which comes from Pergamon.
[iii] To read a detailed description of the process of making parchment: http://www.codexsinaiticus.org/en/project/conservation_parchment.aspx
[iv] The word comes from Latin, vitalinus, which means calf.
