Some excerpts from an item in Hurriyet … a bit out of our time period of interest but I’m sure folks will like this:

Yenikapı excavations that started nearly 10 years ago has brought back Istanbul’s historical heritage to 8,500 years. A wooden notebook, which was found in a sunken ship, the replica of which will sail, is considered the Byzantine’s invention akin to the likes of the modern-day tablet computer.

[…]

Calling the objects the “miracle of Yenikapı,” Kocabaş said, “In one of the ships, we found something like today’s notebook. It is made of wood and can be opened like a notebook. It has a few pages and you can take notes using wax. Also, when you draw its sliding part, there are small weights used as an assay balance. Yenikapı is a phenomenon with its 37 sunken ships and organic products. I think these organic products are the most important feature of the Yenikapı excavations.”

[…]

• via Byzantine ancestors of tablet computers found in Yenikapı diggings

(Hurriyet)

I can’t resist posting the included photo:

I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a wax tablet with this many ‘pages’ before …