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Scroll of the Book of Esther, Seville, Spain Ingredients used in making ink for Hebrew scrolls today A scroll (from the Old French escroe or escroue ), also known as a roll , is a roll of papyrus , parchment , or paper containing writing.
The history of scrolls dates back to ancient Egypt. In most ancient literate cultures scrolls were the earliest format for longer documents written in ink or paint on a flexible background, preceding bound books ; [ 2 ] rigid media such as clay tablets were also used but had many disadvantages in comparison.
Parchment is still the only medium used by traditional religious Jews for Torah scrolls or tefilin and mezuzahs, and is produced by large companies in Israel. This usage is Sinaitic in origin, with special designations for different types of parchment such as gevil and klaf .
The Dead Sea Scrolls that were found were originally preserved by the arid conditions present within the Qumran area adjoining the Dead Sea. [71] In addition, the lack of the use of tanning materials on the parchment of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the very low airflow in the caves also contributed significantly to their preservation. [72]
According to the Talmud, all scrolls must be written on gevil parchment that is treated with salt, flour and m'afatsim (a residue of wasp enzyme and tree bark) [9] in order to be valid. Scrolls not processed in this way are considered invalid. [10] There are only two types of kosher parchment allowed for a Torah scroll: gevil and klaf. [7]
However, some scrolls were written with ink containing lead. [31] In September 2016, Brent Seales, a computer scientist at the University of Kentucky, successfully used virtual unrolling to read the text of a charred parchment from Israel, the En-Gedi Scroll. [32] [33]
In fact, any combination of codices and scrolls with papyrus and parchment is technically feasible and common in the historical record. [ 12 ] Technically, even modern notebooks and paperbacks are codices, but publishers and scholars reserve the term for manuscript (hand-written) books produced from late antiquity until the Middle Ages .
Tefillin (Israeli Hebrew: תְּפִלִּין / תְּפִילִּין ; Ashkenazic pronunciation:; Modern Hebrew pronunciation:), or phylacteries, are a set of small black leather boxes with leather straps containing scrolls of parchment inscribed with verses from the Torah. Tefillin are worn by adult Jews during weekday and Sunday ...