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The
oldest Iranian Stylus, dating to the Middle
Elamite era, 1550-1000 BC, which were used for
inscribing mud tablets, has been discovered from
Bondul Tepe, Fars province.
Bondul Tepe is one of Fars’ major archaeological
sites where architectural remains, clay and metal
objects have been discovered, revealing
information about the economic and social
conditions of the people living in the area from
the fourth millennium BC to the Achaemenid era,
and Islamic period.
According to head of the excavation team of Bondul
Tepe, Ehsan Yaghma’ii, the stylus has a simple
structure and can easily be held in hand. One end
of it is thick and triangular and the other is
sharp and bold. The stylus is 9 centimeters long
and is made of limestone. The inscribers could
create texts in cuneiform by pressing the pen
softly on the wet mud of the tablets.
Before the discovery of the pen and based on
studies carried out on different archaeological
sites, many archaeologists, including the French
archaeologist Jacques DeMorgan, had tried to
provide a picture of ancient Iranian styluses,
which they believed were made of cane or metal.
According to Yaghma’ii, the stylus excavated in
Bondul Tepe is not much different from the ones
suggested by these experts.
Despite the discovery of the stylus, no
inscription or tablet has yet been found in the
area.
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