Clay Made Writing Possible
Clay is fine-grained earth that hardens when fired. The oldest surviving writing was pressed into it.
Clay is fine-grained earth that becomes plastic when wet and hard when fired. It is why we can read the Bronze Age: cuneiform was pressed into wet clay tablets with a reed stylus, and when the buildings holding them burned, the fire baked the tablets and preserved them. Hundreds of thousands survive, while papyrus from the same centuries has almost entirely rotted away. *Feet of clay* comes from the Book of Daniel and means a hidden weakness in an admired figure.
- Fine-grained earth. *Wet clay.*
- Pottery material. *Fired clay.*
- Feet of clay — a hidden flaw. *Feet of clay.*
- Clay court — a tennis surface. *A clay court.*
- Old English — *clæg*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | clay | Clay. |
| Adjective | clayey | Clayey. |
| Compound | claypit | A claypit. |
| Related | ceramic | Ceramic. |
| Old English | clæg | Clay. |
- The potter shaped the clay.Craft.
- Cuneiform was pressed into clay.History.
- The hero had feet of clay.Idiom.
Why clay tablets survived
- Wet clay took an impression cleanly from a reed stylus
- Fire hardened rather than destroyed the tablets
- Burned archives are the best preserved of all
- Papyrus and parchment from the same era largely rotted
- Hundreds of thousands of tablets survive today
Old English *clæg*, of Germanic origin, related to Dutch *klei* and German *Klei*.
Why did clay tablets survive so well?
Fire bakes clay rather than destroying it, so burned archives preserved their tablets while papyrus of the same age rotted.
What does feet of clay mean?
A hidden weakness in someone admired, from the Book of Daniel, where a great statue stands on brittle clay feet.