Very light article, focused too much on relatively "modern" uses of paper ("references as early as the Pharaohs in ancient Egypt", not so old). Pre-paper/papyr

Very light article, focused too much on relatively "modern" uses of paper ("references as early as the Pharaohs in ancient Egypt", not so old). Pre-paper/papyrus solutions, such as the bulla ([1]) are entirely omitted. tl;dr? Shipping goods down the Nile, want to ensure that the recipient knows what you shipped, and that the crew didn't help themselves? Place tokens representing the goods in a clay ball, impress your seal upon it and fire it, and include it with the shipment. Imperfect, but clever nevertheless. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulla_(seal) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulla_(seal)