[German version]

The use of wooden tablets (δέλτος/déltos, cf. Hdt. 8,135, or δελτίον/deltíon, cf. Hdt. 7,239) coated with wax for the transmission of written messages (therefore in the form of a letter, Pl. Ep. 312d) appears to have been known to the Greeks from the end of the 8th cent. BC (Writing). In this context, the Homeric epic (Hom. Il. 6,168-170) speaks of a πίναξ πτυκτός/pínax ptyktós (cf. Hdt. 7,239: δελτίον δίπτυχον/deltíon díptychon). The folding wooden tablet (Diptychon) consisted of two panels connected with a hinge; their inner sides, covered with a laye…