The first book

Q1. What were the first books made of?

Ans1. The first books were made of clay tablets by Babylonians and Assyrians.

Q2. How did the people in the ancient times write on clay?
Ans2. They used sharp pointed tools to cut wedge-shape characters on wet clay. To make the writing
permanent the tablets were baked in ovens.

Q3.What was the ancient Egyptian equivalent of the modern book?

Ans3. Egyptians made crude paper from Papyrus by hand. The sheets were hand made and pasted
together into long strips. The long strips were wrapped on cylindrical rollers.

Q4. Which part of the Payrus plant was used to make paper?
Ans4. The stems of the Papyrus plant were used to make paper. The center of the stem was the
broadest and most valuable.

Q5. How was paper important to Egyptian trade?

Ans5. For many centuries all diplomatic papers were written on paper made from Papyrus therefore it
was an important article of trade in Egypt.

Q6. What is ancient Egyptian writing called? What form did it take?
Ans6. The ancient Egyptian writings are called hieroglyphics. Poetry, stories and records were written
in this form.

Q7. Who were the first people to do printing?

Ans7. The first people to do printing were the Chinese and Japanese in the 5th Century.

Q8. How were blocks of wood used as printing forms?

Ans8. Pictures were carved into the face of the blocks. The blocks were then inked and printed on crude
presses.

Q9. When was the first modern book printed? What was it called and who printed it?
Ans9. The first modern book was printed between 1453-1456. It was called the Gutenberg Bible and was
printed by Johann Gutenberg.