What are wax tablets?

A wax tablet is basically a small reusable notebook that ancient people used to write on before paper and ink became common.

Imagine you have a thick, smooth pancake made of dough. That is your wax tablet! It looks like a shallow box with a rim around the edge to keep the gooey stuff inside. When the Romans or Greeks wanted to jot down a grocery list or write a letter, they didn't use a pen and paper like we do today. Instead, they took a thin wooden stick called a stylus.

They pressed the pointy end of the stylus into the soft wax surface. Scratch, scratch. Little grooves appeared where the metal touched the soft material. It was exactly like drawing lines in the sand at the beach or making impressions in playdough. If they made a mistake, say they spelled "cat" wrong, they just flipped the stick over and used the flat, spoon-shaped end to smooth out the wax again. The tablet went back to being perfectly blank and ready for new words.

To keep your writing from smudging when you closed the book, many wax tablets were made in pairs. Two small wooden panels with wax on the inside were hinged together like a book. You could open them up to write on both surfaces at once or close them tight to protect your notes. This is why we still call our reading materials "books" and place "bookmarks" in them today. It all started because these ancient folders were stacked and tied together just like the boxes you see now.