Show I r y Wi t r f F Cune Cuneiform form Document of cf Babylon by the N National SoI So- So I clety Washington D. D C The loss of n a pen today Is not of Much Juch consequence but It If one of at our pens ens could be found In perfect condition con con- years ears from now It might Ight tell the Ule scholars of that future day many Interesting thIngs bout about our civilization Archeologists dug up a few weeks ago ngo on the site of ancient near Bab Babylon lon the oldest known pen penIn penin In the world and It has bus helped to piece out a fascinating picture of life In that region where man probably first firs built titles cities and lIved an ordered law guided existence One has a tendency to look upon this old civilization as little known to the modern world But thanks to pens such as the bone st stylus lus recently recent recent- I ly unearthed In Mesopotamia and the unfading and Ineradicable marks which they made on soft clay subsequently baked we know More of f th the history y of at certaIn and AssyrIa than we do of that of many comparatively modern states One of f the surprises these clay j documents afford are th the striking likenesses like nesses of a civilization of years ago to that of the Twentieth century One scholar avers that a right light Ing citizen n of oC a modern city would feel at home In ancient Buh lon than In m medieval Europe Another astounding revelation of ot these writings Is that Israel Instead ot of being One ne of the the foremost nations of antiquity was a small power rein rela- ely Inconspicuous Moreover Moreo instead In in- stead stend of the patriarch Abraham belonging be be- longing ln to the beginning of time humanly hu hu- manly considered J It Is now found that he occupies a middle chapter In the history of mankind Tablets Reliable Records I In one respect the historIan of these I early times has an anta ad advantage e over his colleague who seeks details In documents documents written on paper The baled baked und and sun dried tablets Of the Babylonians may be hard to but when read they are sources reliable and not altered or revised b by subsequent Jenera generations tI on The well kneaded cla clay which had been washed to te free It from grit und and sand while In a plastic condItion was shaped Into the form and size desired de J As the style of paper use used J at the present time Is frequently a an tion of the character of the the swine sallie Is t true rue In a general a way of at atan an ancient clay tablet t or cylinder clInder In most instances the trained at a glance can cun cund d determine the character In a general WU sway of an Inscription by 3 Its shape hape or appearance The SI stylus lus with whIch these remarkable re- re cuneiform records were made Is seen at Its best It h the recent discovery ery at That implement IS a little rod of at bone about six Inches long triangular ular In sec cross tion cut off sharply at one end so that when this end was pressed Into damp cla clay It left wedge shaped Im- Im The civilization that these little three three cornered cornered jabs picture for Cor us Is astounding Life was about as thoroughly thoroughly thor thor- organized and carefully regulated regulated regu- regu as our own Even the Ills of present day civilization existed In Babylon Bablon Maids on gay road house parties were common Wine VIne sein was regulated and the a a us t as put squarely up 10 loh 1 t A maid might sue for breach of at promise a landholder had to pay a heavier tax If f he dId not cultivate his allotment guardians were provided for estates of wIdows and orphans Formal contracts contracts and deeds had bad to tobe tobe be attested by n a notary and In swearIng swearing swear swear- Ing the person taking the Ole oath raIsed his rIght hand An official copy of the transaction on a clay cIlY tablet with the notary's attestation was deposited In Inthe inthe the temple the court house of at those days dus interest Ra Rates cs Were High There was nn an excellent reason for paying ones one's rent promptly In Babylon Babylon Baby Baby- lon for creditors could seize one of at atthe the debtors debtor's h for a hostage and hold him until u a satisfactory settlement settlement set set- was made Interest were er rather dIscouragIng also the usual rate referred to on clay tablets ling 20 per cent Instead of a pen pen- of of 10 as In modern mode n notes if 11 Ic legal al steps must be betaken taken talen to c collect lle t Babylonian notes provided for the doubling ng of the debt The discovery of the bone stylus at Kish not not on only I helps to an understanding understanding under under- standing of un an ancient civilization cl It discloses a class of ImpI implements ments that has been more Important to the development t of all ull civilization than perhaps any other othel group of tools Man Is even more truly distinguished dis- dis I as a writing animal than as a speaking animal for fo It Its It's Is s th the growing fund of knowledge set down down on various surfaces by various ond so passed on to generation generation gen gen- after generation that has made ml possible development de In n the arts sciences and industries Back of I the Irish stylus are more mor primitive I members of the pen family chisels to cut Into stone and wooden tablets thorns to scratCh on hides flint splInters with which to furrow cave walls hon hones and sticks with which to tomake make probably the first rude marks of all ail In sand or dirt In a parallel line stretch back the fewer an ancestors estors of the pencil hits bits ot of lead lumps of chalk and soft earths and the cads of charred sticks After the Scratching Tools The descendants of the Babylonian stylus und and the scratching tools that preceded It present a startling of und mid mechanisms In China and E Egypt pt paper find and papyrus were invented to lu supersede the cruder and heavier ler wrIting surfaces and the great forward step was made of applying appl ap- ap pl plying u a third substance Ink by means of a brush h or pen The Egyptian reed recd made of a hollow tubular stem stein may muy be loo looked ed upon as the direct ancestor ot of the modern pen It had practically the norm of at Its preset day descendant being and slit silt to make It pliable The earl early Greeks and Romans however howe dId did not nUl use ue an any material comparable to paper The first scribbled with chalk chulk on broken bits ot of Otter ottery or scratched with pointe metal rods on wooden blocks next step stell was to cower er the bloc with wax nod fwd scratch crutch their messages In that material Their styli stU had knobs on one end used to smooth smooth out erroneous narks New r wax could be applied and the tablets used over and over o The styli were truly is As mighty mIght liS as swords serving ns as dugger dug dag gl ger when hEn desIred |