THEinstrumentsofantiquityemployedintheartofwritingbelongtotwoofthemostdistantepochs。
Inthefirstperiod，inscriptionswereengraved，carvedorimpressedwithsharpinstruments，andofpatternscharacteristicofagravingtool，chiselorotherformwhichcouldbeadaptedtoparticularsubstanceslikestone，leaves，metalorivoryplates，waxorclaytablets，cylindersandprisms。
TheancientAssyriansevenusedknivesorstampsforimpressingtheircuneiformwritinguponcylindersorprismsofsoftclaywhichwereoftenglazedbysubsequentbakingsinkilns。
Theotherperiodwasthatinwhichwrittencharactersweremadewithliquidsorpaintsofanykindorcolor。Theliquidsinkswereusedinconnectionwithapenmanufacturedfromareedcalamus，whilethepaintswere“painted“onthevarioussubstanceswithabrush。Thewritingexecutedwithbothoftheseinstrumentswasonmaterialslikethebarkoftrees，cloth，skins，papyrus，vellum，etc。
Theancientaswellasmodernpens，thoughofmanysortsandkinds，aretobeclassifiedundertwogeneralheads，thosewhichscratchandthosewhichuseanink。