Supplementary material for “They Wrote on Wax” ============================================== by Michele Cammarosano & Katja Weirauch, published May 2020 At the [Files][1] section photos of the experimental wax boards discussed in the paper *They Wrote on Wax* are available. The material is available under a [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license][2]. **Quote as:** M. Cammarosano & K. Weirauch, *Supplementary material to* M. Cammarosano, K. Weirauch, F. Maruhn, G. Jendritzki, P. Kohl, “They Wrote on Wax. Wax Boards in the Ancient Near East”, *Mesopotamia* LIV (2019), at [https://osf.io/528zj/][3], photos by Christina Kiefer and Miron Sevastre. Additionally, the original figures published in the paper are made available at the [OSF component “Cuneiform Writing” of *Cuneiform Tidbits*][4]. Experimental boards ------------------- The first set of six boards was materially prepared by Erik Schumann, the orpiment boards by Feline Maruhn, all other boards by Katja Weirauch, Erik Schumann and Michele Cammarosano. The writing tests were carried out by M. Cammarosano. For discussion see M. Cammarosano, K. Weirauch, F. Maruhn, G. Jendritzki, P. Kohl, “They Wrote on Wax. Wax Boards in the Ancient Near East”, *Mesopotamia* LIV (2019). The photos are by courtesy of Christina Kiefer (first set) & Miron Sevastre (second & third set) of the *Martin von Wagner Museum der Universität Würzburg* **First set** Each board is subdivided in three sections, which have been written at a temperature of -10, 15, and 35 °C respectively. Each section is bipartite, the first paragraph having been written without a release agent, the second one by using a release agent made by ghee, sesame oil and date syrup. Within each paragraph, each line has been written with a different stylus, in the following order: reed [Arundo donax], wood [larch], bone [cow], and metal [brass]). The combination of these variables gives a total of 24 lines per board. The composition of the boards is as follows: > Board no. / Composition > > A1: 93% beeswax, 7% yellow ochre > > A2: 88% beeswax, 7% yellow ochre, 5% sesame oil > > A3: 75% beeswax, 25% yellow ochre > > A4: 70% beeswax, 25% yellow ochre, 5% sesame oil > > A5: 50% beeswax, 50% yellow ochre > > A6: 45% beeswax, 50% yellow ochre, 5% sesame oil Tab. 1 – Experimental boards, first set (each board 18 × 9 cm). The boards have been photographed first after the two first sections had been inscribed (photos by Christina Kiefer, *Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg*), and a second time after completion of the tests, since the contours of the wedges impressed at low temperature may partially melt at higher temperatures (requested for the last test). **Second set** The boards have been inscribed in cuneiform and linear script at different temperatures (5°, 20°, and 40° C respectively). Within each section, the first line has been inscribed with a reed stylus, the second one with an ivory stylus (photos by Miron Sevastre, *Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg*). The composition of the boards is as follows: > Board no. / Composition > > B1: 10% colophony > > B2: 20% colophony > > B3: 10% myrrh > > B4: 20% myrrh > > B5: 25% myrrh > > B6: 10% gum arabic > > B7: 20% gum arabic > > B8: 10% charcoal, 10% colophony > > B9: 10% charcoal, 10% yellow ochre > > B10: 20% ochre > > B11: 10% colophony, 10% yellow ochre Tab. 2 – Experimental boards, second set (each board 9 × 7 cm). **Third set** The set includes three boards containing orpiment (arsenic sulfide), tested at a room temperature of ca. 25 °C, three boards made using beef tallow instead of beeswax, each one tested under varying temperature conditions (ca. -3, 23 and 33 °C), and four boards containing beeswax, ochre and sesame oil, each one tested under varying temperature conditions (ca. 3 and 23 °C). These boards were inscribed with styli of bone and reed (photos by Miron Sevastre, *Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg*). The composition of the boards is as follows: > Board no. / Composition > > C1: 9% orpiment, 91% beeswax > > C2: 25% orpiment, 75% beeswax > > C3: 4% colophony, 16% orpiment, 80% beeswax > > C4: 50% beef tallow, 50% ochre > > C5: 75% beef tallow, 25% ochre > > C6: 40% beef tallow, 40% ochre, 20% myrrh > > C7: 45% beeswax, 45% ochre, 10% sesame oil > > C8: 40% beeswax, 40% ochre, 20% sesame oil > > C9: 35% beeswax, 35% ochre, 30% sesame oil > > C10: 30% beeswax, 30% ochre, 40% sesame oil Tab. 3 – Experimental boards, third set (each board 9 × 7 cm [C1-6], 4 × 4 cm [C7-10]). Writing styli ------------- A set of five experimental writing styli made of reed, wood, camel bone, brass, and ivory. The styli have been manufactured by Michele Cammarosano (reed, wood), Miron Sevastre (bone, brass), and Frank Wittstadt (ivory). The photo is by Christina Kiefer (*Martin von Wagner Museum of the University of Würzburg*). [1]: https://osf.io/528zj/files/ [2]: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ [3]: https://osf.io/528zj/ [4]: https://osf.io/uj45b/wiki/home/