wax tablet
Sign in to saveAlso known as writing tablet, diptych, triptych, polyptych, pentatych, tablets
two or more tablets of wood, filled with wax, for writing upon
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 108 inbound references to wax tablet, and connects out to writing, Turkey and Latin.
Vinony files it under Manuscripts by type and Writing media.
Vinony links it to 31 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Image
- Table with was and stylus Roman times.jpg
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- Commons category
- Wax tablets
- P13411
- 1916
Sources (2)
via Wikidata · CC0
~5 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Wax tablet and a Roman stylus A wax tablet is a tablet made of wood and covered with a layer of wax, often linked loosely to a cover tablet, as a "double-leaved" diptych. It was used as a reusable and portable writing surface in antiquity and throughout the Middle Ages. Cicero's letters make passing reference to the use of cerae, and some examples of wax-tablets have been preserved in waterlogged deposits in the Roman fort at Vindolanda on Hadrian's Wall. Medieval wax tablet books are on display in several European museums.
Writing on the wax surface was performed with a pointed instrument, a stylus. A straight-edged spatula-like implement (often placed on the opposite end of the stylus tip) would be used as an eraser. The modern expression of "a clean slate" equates to the Latin expression "tabula rasa".
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “wax tablet” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.