Concept
Palimpsest
Related concepts (6)
Papyrus
Papyrus (pəˈpaɪrəs ) is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing surface. It was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge. Papyrus (plural: papyri or papyruses) can also refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book. Papyrus was first known to have been used in Egypt (at least as far back as the First Dynasty), as the papyrus plant was once abundant across the Nile Delta.
Quran
The Quran (kUrˈɑːn, ; vocalized Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: ALA-LC alqurˈʔaːn, 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters ( (): سور ALA-LC, (): سورة ALA-LC), which consist of verses ( (): آيات ALA-LC, (): آية ALA-LC, (): ALA-LC). In addition to its religious significance, it is widely regarded as the finest work in Arabic literature, and has significantly influenced the Arabic language.
Scroll
A scroll (from the Old French escroe or escroue), also known as a roll, is a roll of papyrus, parchment, or paper containing writing. A scroll is usually partitioned into pages, which are sometimes separate sheets of papyrus or parchment glued together at the edges. Scrolls may be marked divisions of a continuous roll of writing material. The scroll is usually unrolled so that one page is exposed at a time, for writing or reading, with the remaining pages rolled and stowed to the left and right of the visible page.
Vellum
Vellum is prepared animal skin or membrane, typically used as writing material. It is distinguished from parchment when it is made from calfskin, rather than that made from other animals, or having a higher quality when it is not. Vellum is prepared for writing and printing on and used for single pages, scrolls, codices, or books. Modern scholars and experts use the general and potentially-confusing term "membrane" more often. It may be very hard to determine the animal species involved (let alone its age) without going to a laboratory depending on the way of making the paper.
Book
A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or s, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. It can also be a handwritten or printed work of fiction or nonfiction, usually on sheets of paper fastened or bound together within covers. The technical term for this physical arrangement is codex (plural, codices). In the history of hand-held physical supports for extended written compositions or records, the codex replaces its predecessor, the scroll.
Manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has come to be understood to further include any written, typed, or word-processed copy of an author's work, as distinguished from the rendition as a printed version of the same. Before the arrival of prints, all documents and books were manuscripts.