Image Details

Copyright Institute of Nautical Archaeology

Among the rich cargo of the Late Bronze Age (c. 1300 B.C.) Uluburun ship, marine archaeologists found the small boxwood writing tablet shown here (compare with drawings of stylus and boxwood writing tablet). The tablet’s two leaves, each 3.5 inches high, were joined by three ivory hinges—two of which have been recovered—allowing the “book” to be opened and closed. As in the reconstruction drawing, the book would have been fastened with a loop-and-hook mechanism.