Modern schoolchildren can see papyrus only on the covers of their notebooks
It is logical to start with deciphering the concept of "notebook." Based on etymological analysis, scientists concluded that it comes from the Greek "tetra" – four. The ancient Greeks considered this number magical: four seasons, cardinal directions, sides of a square (which seemed to them an ideal geometric figure due to its right angles), elements (air, water, fire, and earth).
Today, modern school notebooks on Germes and in any other online store look completely different from ancient Greek ones. Usually, thin clay tablets, less often wooden ones, were used as writing sheets, since mountainous Greece was not rich in forests. A thin layer of wax was applied to them, and letters were drawn with a thin stick – a stylus. The other end was blunt, so that in case of a mistake, the writing could be erased.
Later, the "sheets" began to be connected together for convenience. A notebook assembled from four components was optimal in weight for carrying to school.
There is another version of the origin of this item. All books and notebooks in ancient Greek libraries were divided into four parts. It was very simple – they were quite expensive, and only representatives of the nobility could afford to buy a whole book. Representatives of the demos (common people) would take one of the four parts of a book and, after reading, return it to take another.
But the Greeks were not the only ones who used writing materials similar to modern notebooks. The inhabitants of Ancient Egypt used dried and processed papyrus leaves, which grew in large quantities on the banks of the Nile River, as sheets. However, hieroglyphs were too complex an alphabet – so there were very few literate people among the Egyptians. Accordingly, little writing material was needed.
The most practical writing material was used by the inhabitants of Ancient Mesopotamia. There were very few forests in the territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, so they used clay tablets. A piece of clay was rolled into something like a dense sheet, and writing was applied to it with a stick with a pointed end. It looked like a wedge, and the writing of the inhabitants of Mesopotamia was called cuneiform.
The material closest to today's notebooks was created by the Chinese Cai Lun at the beginning of the 2nd century AD. Since then, paper production has improved and spread throughout the world, and notebooks became accessible even to the poor due to the cheapness of raw materials.