Little Kourosh, after his ambitious dream of inventing a new language and a simple script that would open the doors of knowledge to all, quickly encountered another major obstacle: the lack of a suitable and efficient medium for writing. Clay tablets, for all their durability which had preserved a legacy of thousands of years, were heavy, fragile, and cumbersome. Their transportation was difficult, and their storage required vast and costly space. Animal hides, though lighter and more flexible, were very expensive and rare, and by no means economical for use on a large scale for mass education. These materials were in stark contrast to Kourosh's philosophy of spreading knowledge and literacy among the general public; he needed a material that was cheap, light, accessible, and mass-producible for his dream to become a reality.
In the solitude of his mind, he recalled how humanity, from the very beginning of civilization, had sought to record its thoughts, knowledge, and experiences, and for this purpose, had used various materials. Each civilization, according to its geographical location, available resources, and needs, found a way to write; from carving on hard stones and cave walls to inscribing on softer and more portable materials. This relentless quest of humankind to find a more suitable and efficient medium for recording knowledge spanned a history of thousands of years and was a testament to the insatiable thirst of humans to immortalize wisdom.
The first and perhaps most enduring writing medium was the clay tablet, which emerged in the civilizations of Mesopotamia, especially in Sumer, in the fourth millennium BCE. These tablets, although heavy, bulky, and fragile, with their transport being an arduous task, had unparalleled durability against fire and the passage of time. Thousands of clay tablets have been unearthed today as an unparalleled testament to the knowledge, laws, literature, and daily life of the ancient civilizations of Mesopotamia, bringing a treasure trove of information to future generations. But Kourosh knew that their difficult transport and the vast space required for their storage hindered the rapid spread of knowledge.
In ancient Egypt, a revolutionary material emerged that would dominate the world of writing for centuries: papyrus. This writing medium was made from the papyrus plant that grew along the Nile River. The manufacturing process involved cutting the plant's stems into thin strips, soaking and pressing them to form thin, flexible sheets. Papyrus was much lighter and more portable than clay tablets, and writing on it was easier. But papyrus also had its drawbacks; it was vulnerable to high humidity and dryness, required the specific climate of Egypt, and its production was not cheap due to the complex process and the need for skilled labor, which limited its public access.
Then, in the city of Pergamon in Asia Minor, another material called parchment (or vellum) was developed. This material, made from the skin of sheep, goats, or calves, through a complex and time-consuming process, was much more durable, flexible, and could be erased and rewritten upon. Parchment provided a luxurious and excellent surface for writing that was more resistant to wear and tear and climatic changes, making it ideal for important and sacred texts. But this material was also very expensive due to the scarcity of hides and the complex production process, limiting its use to religious, royal, and important texts, and it could never become a tool for mass literacy.
In the Far East, the civilization of China had also trodden different paths for writing. They initially used bamboo or wood slips, which, like clay tablets, were bulky and heavy, and their transport was difficult. Then, silk was used as a luxurious and delicate medium for writing; it was light and delicate, and writing on it was easier, but due to its very high price, it was only used for very important and aristocratic texts and was out of reach for the general public. This diversity in methods was a testament to the global effort of humanity to record and transmit knowledge, but none offered a complete and comprehensive solution.
Kourosh, reviewing this history in his mind, concluded that none of these materials provided an optimal combination of accessibility, affordability, lightness, and ease of mass production. Each had disadvantages that hindered the general spread of literacy and knowledge and kept knowledge in the monopoly of a small group. He thought about the importance of this issue in the modern world, where paper was found in every corner and had become a universal tool; a paper that, in that ancient era, was not yet widely known.
These thoughts led him to the deep understanding that to realize the dream of New Persian and mass education, he needed a tool that was hitherto unknown in this part of the world and would bring about a great revolution in the medium of writing. Kourosh knew that to implement such a revolution, a new script and language alone were not enough; the writing tool also had to be transformed so that knowledge could flow like water among the people. He quickly came to the conclusion that he had to find a way to produce paper; a material that was light, cheap, accessible, and mass-producible, which could bring his writing revolution to fruition. These two goals, a new language and paper, were intertwined, and one was incomplete without the other.
Kourosh's decision was firm. He intended to bring these two great innovations to fruition in Anshan, at least on a small and secret scale, before he turned five. He wanted to kill two birds with one stone: to prove his extraordinary genius and divine insight to his family and those around him, thereby gaining their unconditional support, and also, by laying the foundation of these essential tools, to establish the cornerstone of the revolution of knowledge and literacy in his future empire.