Scroll

A scroll is a continuous roll of writing material used to store information.

These rolls were traditionally made from papyrus, parchment, or paper. A scroll functions by partitioning the material into pages. These pages might be separate sheets glued together at the edges.

Alternatively, the scroll may consist of a single, continuous roll. To read or write on a scroll, a person unrolls it to expose one page at a time. The remaining material stays rolled up on the left or right sides of the visible section. Text is written in lines from the top to the bottom of the page. Depending on the language, characters might move left to right or right to left. Some ancient styles even used boustrophedon, which means the direction of writing alternates with each line.

Using a scroll requires specific technical care to prevent damage. Because the material is constantly being rolled and unrolled, it undergoes physical stress. This repeated bending can cause the surface to weaken.

Writers had to develop special inks that could adhere strongly to these surfaces. Even with these advancements, ink would sometimes slowly flake off the material. To help keep a scroll flat during use, different cultures used various tools.

In China, for example, people used silver scroll weights embossed with dragons. These weights stabilized the unrolled material so it could be viewed easily.

There are different types of rolls used throughout history.

Historians often distinguish between the scroll and the rotulus. A rotulus is typically a shorter piece of parchment or paper. While some historians use these terms interchangeably, they often represent different styles. In a rotulus, the lines of writing frequently run across the width of the roll. This makes the lines parallel to the unrolled portion rather than running along the length. These rolls could be quite wide, sometimes reaching up to 60 cm or two feet. They were often used for administrative tasks like accounting, legal agreements, or inventories. In medieval Europe and West Asia, these rolls were frequently stored together in special cupboards on shelves.

Scrolls represent one of the earliest forms of editable record keeping.

Ancient Egyptian civilizations in the Eastern Mediterranean were among the first to use them. The Israelites also used parchment scrolls for their records. For a long time, scrolls were held in higher regard than the bound books that followed them. In Scotland, between the 13th and 17th centuries, the term "scrow" was used for such documents. This era even included a specific official known as the Clerk of the Scrow, or Clerk of the Rolls. This official was responsible for managing the register of important lists and schedules.

Around the 1st century AD, a new format called the codex began to appear. The codex is a book made by folding material into pages.

Legend suggests that Julius Caesar may have first folded scrolls for his military dispatches in Gaul. However, historians find this claim difficult to prove due to uncertain historical passages. One thing is certain: Christians were among the earliest groups to use the codex widely. Evidence shows that Christian papyrus codices existed as early as the second century. Some experts believe the widespread Christian adoption of the codex happened around A.D. 100.

The transition from scrolls to codices happened for many practical reasons. A scroll is awkward if a reader needs to compare information from opposite ends of the document. Furthermore, scrolls are usually written on only one side. A codex allows a person to use both sides of every page. Eventually, the folds were cut into individual sheets called leaves. These leaves were then bound together along one edge and protected by stiff covers. These covers were often made of wood and enclosed in leather. The codex was much easier to organize on library shelves because the spine could face out with a title. This made finding specific books much faster than searching through piles of scrolls.

By the fourth century, the codex became the standard format for books. As the codex grew in popularity, the use of scrolls declined. Most ancient scrolls were not preserved through careful copying into the new format. Instead, archaeologists often find them in burial pits or within the buried trash of ancient communities. Today, modern technology allows us to study these fragile remains through virtual unrolling.

This non-destructive method uses 3D X-ray scans in a tomograph to see inside a scroll. Scientists can then programmatically unroll the digital image. This has allowed researchers to study burned or water-damaged items, such as the Herculaneum papyri or the En-Gedi Scroll, without physically touching them.