If you want to write a story or a letter, all you have to do is to go to a shop like W H Smith and buy an exercise book or a selection of appropriate sheets of paper, select a biro or some other type of pen, and then begin. In ancient times people had to make their own writing materials. If you could not go W H Smiths or Martins, how would you make your own materials to write on and pens to write with?

In ancient Babylon scribes used small tablets of clay. By using a stylus (a pen-like stick), with a wedge-shaped end, to make wedge-shaped marks in the soft clay. This wedge-shaped writing was called cuneiform writing. Once the impressions were made in the clay, it could be baked hard as a permanent record.

In ancient Egypt they also used papyrus which was made from the stems of reeds which grew in the still waters by the edge of the river Nile. The inner stems of the papyrus plant were cut into thin strips and laid side by side. Another layer of strip was then laid side by side on top of them, but at right angles across them. The two layers were compressed together and, when completely dry, formed an excellent writing surface.

In many ancient civilisations, drawings and written accounts were carved into stone and rock, on palace and temple walls as well as being painted on to the walls of tombs.

Another useful and durable writing surface was parchment. This was made from the skins of sheep and goats. When cleaned, treated and dried, it made an excellent and smooth writing surface.

Writings on papyrus and parchment were stored in a scroll form. Scrolls had to be unrolled to the place needed for reading and they were not too easy to store. By about the 2nd century AD, the scroll began to be replaced by the codex. Pages of written material were fastened together at one side, so that it opened like a book. It was easier to find a place for reading and easier to store.