Note 15 — IV. Messengers, Carriers, etc.

Letters were generally in the form of rolls, round a stick, or, if a long letter, round two sticks, beginning at each end and rolling them until they met in the middle. Books of every size were called rolls. Our word volume means just the same thing in its original signification. Jer. xxxvi. 2; Ps. xl.; Isa. xxxiv. 4. The roll, book, or letter was commonly written on one side: that which was given to Ezekiel, in vision, was written on both, within and without.—Ezek. ii. 10. Letters then, as is the custom in the East at present, were sent in most cases without being sealed; while those addressed to persons of distinction were placed in a valuable purse, or bag, which was tied, closed over with clay or wax, and so stamped with the writer’s signet. The Roman scrinium, or book-case, a very costly cabinet, shows how these rolls were preserved. They were put in lengthwise, and labeled at top.