Letter Writing

These artifacts show some of the writing materials available in the first century C.E. Writers may have used a pen that was cut from the type of reed that grew along the Nile River. They normally used inexpensive black ink that was held in an inkwell. They wrote on a variety of surfaces, such as wooden tablets, clay fragments, parchment, or papyrus. A writer could compose a long letter on a scroll of papyrus and trim off the extra length for later use. For a short letter, the writer could purchase one sheet, which the vendor would cut off a roll. Most letters were brief. For example, Paul’s letter to Philemon would be considered of average length. The majority of the books in the Christian Greek Scriptures are letters, written by Jesus’ disciples under inspiration.