SUBJECT MATTER OF HISTORY

History is the narrative of what civilized man has done. It deals with
those social groups called states and nations. Just as biography describes
the life of individuals, so history relates the rise, progress, and
decline of human societies.

MANUSCRIPTS AND BOOKS

History cannot go back of written records. These alone will preserve a
full and accurate account of man's achievements. Manuscripts and books
form one class of written records. The old Babylonians used tablets of
soft clay, on which signs were impressed with a metal instrument. The
tablets were then baked hard in an oven. The Egyptians made a kind of
paper out of the papyrus, a plant native to the Nile valley. The Greeks
and Romans at first used papyrus, but later they employed the more lasting
parchment prepared from sheepskin. Paper seems to have been a Chinese
invention. It was introduced into Europe by the Arabs during the twelfth
century of our era.

[Illustration: THE DISK OF PHAESTUS
Found in 1908 A.D. in the palace at Phaestus, Crete. The disk is of
refined clay on which the figures were stamped in relief with punches.
Both sides of the disk are covered with characters. The side seen in the
illustration contains 31 sign groups (123 signs) separated from one
another by incised lines. The other side contains 30 sign groups (118
signs). The inscription dates from about 1800 B.C.]

[Illustration: A PAPYRUS MANUSCRIPT