Dear All,
Further to to the discussion regarding the supplanting of the
scroll by the codex it has been believed generally that the codex developed
over time from the wooden tablets used by Roman schoolchildren for writng.
Two or three of these tablets would be held together by a leather thong at
top left corner of tablets. Startling confirmation for this hypothesis
was found about a dozen years ago at excavations at Dakleh Oasis 400 miles
south of Alexandria and 240 miles west of Luxor. There was found at the
bottom of steps leading to a domestic kitchen the earliest extant codex in
the form of nine boards measuring 14 by 5 inches bound together with four
thongs. This primitive codex is dated to c. 295 AD. The surface is gesso.
On it is written in Greek three works by Isocrates. Thus the earliest
extant copy of anything by him. I have used photos of this discovery in my
lectures on the history of the book to great effect for the past five
years.
Joe Pope
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