An international team of researchers working in the residential district of ancient Ur has discovered a unique cuneiform archive belonging to the Master of the Royal Scribes’ Pen-Makers. This administrative collection contains dozens of tablets detailing the specific types of reeds required for the different grades of styluses used across the city’s many archives. Some tablets provide botanical instructions on the ideal time of year to harvest reeds from the marshes to ensure they were neither too brittle nor too soft for incision into wet clay.
The archive also includes several bronze reed-cutting knives and stone-shaping tools found in situ. This find highlights the extreme specialization within Sumerian bureaucracy, showing that even the tools of writing were subject to rigorous quality control and central management. One particularly interesting tablet records a 'petition for replacement' from a scribe who complained that the last batch of pens was prone to splintering, costing the palace several hours of lost recording time.