A recent study published in the Journal of Archaeological Science has shed new light on the materials and techniques used in the creation of writing tablets in the Neo-Assyrian Empire. Unearthed in the ruins of the ancient city of Nimrud—located in present-day Iraq—these tablets date back to the 7th century BC and offer the earliest known physical evidence of cuneiform writing inscribed in beeswax.
Preserved by Chance: From the Palace Well to the Museum
Neo-Assyrian tablets made of beeswax at the British Museum. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum
The tablets were originally discovered during excavations in the 1950s at the Northwest Palace of Nimrud, once one of the Assyrian Empire’s major capitals. Remarkably, their survival was pure chance. During a violent sack of the city in 612 BC, they were thrown into a well. The waterlogged, oxygen-deprived conditions of the well preserved them for over 2,600 years.
The tablets, made from wood and ivory, were coated with a pale yellow paste. Advanced analysis confirmed this to be a mixture of beeswax and orpiment—a yellow arsenic sulfide pigment (As₂S₃).
Cutting-Edge Science Uncovers Ancient Techniques
Five fragments of a wooden writing tablet from Nimrud (9th – 7th century BC), at the British Museum. Photo: The Trustees of the British Museum
Led by Diego Tamburini, a research team at the British Museum employed high-resolution methods—including Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), pyrolysis-gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM)—to study the tablet fragments.
These techniques allowed researchers to precisely identify both the organic and inorganic components of the writing surface, as well as the specific type of wood used. Their findings verified earlier analyses from the 1950s: the yellow paste was made primarily of beeswax, mixed with approximately 25% orpiment.
What’s more, the beeswax was found to be exceptionally well-preserved, with no traces of organic additives like oils or resins. This suggests that the Assyrians used a simple yet effective formula for their writing medium.
Arsenic: More Than Just a Pigment?
Orpiment didn’t just add a beautiful golden hue to the wax. It also enhanced the material’s mechanical properties, making the wax tacky and well-suited for engraving the sharp, wedge-shaped characters of cuneiform.
But the study goes further, proposing that arsenic may have served another function: preservation. Known for its antimicrobial properties, the arsenic compound might have protected the wax from fungi and bacteria, helping it survive for millennia.
From the Assyrians to the Greeks and Romans
The tablets also bear traces of burnt organic material, likely charcoal-based black pigment. This indicates that the Assyrians may have created writing surfaces with dark backgrounds—an aesthetic approach that would later become popular in Greek and Roman tablet-making.
Wood analysis identified walnut (Juglans regia) as the material of choice—native to a region stretching from Iraq to the Himalayas—supporting the theory that the Assyrians used locally sourced materials despite their extensive trade networks.
Ivory tablets, on the other hand, were larger and likely reserved for special occasions or elite use, reflecting a clear social hierarchy in writing practices.
Looking Ahead: Cultural Connections Waiting to Be Discovered
The research team emphasizes that their findings lay the groundwork for future comparative studies with writing tablets from other ancient regions, including Egypt and Anatolia. Such studies could uncover unexpected cultural links and shared technologies across ancient civilizations.
