Part of The Roots of Modern Publishing

By the time of the Apostle  Paul and other scribes the development of pens and various types of inks was well under way in the Middle East -- the roots of the sophisticated inks used in publishing today.

He and others  used pens, not unlike early quills  or even our modern fountain pens, particularly  the ones without an ink reservoir office workers and students used to tip into the ink bottle to pick up enough ink on the to write a few  words.   Most of us remember those you used to have sitting on your desks as well as in the paper blotter to used to dry the  words to keep them from smudging if you turned to page?

Paul and other used a pen made from a reed carved to a point with a slit in the centre on one end just like a modern fountain pen or a brush to paint the words onto the writing surface

The ink Paul and other scribes used was usually black, but according The Aid to Bible Understanding  some ancients also produced colored inks by adding iron oxides and tinctures to other colors such a rich gold. But apparently black ink predominated and was made basically from amorphous soot or crystalline charcoal contained in a liquid containing gum, blue or varnish which bound the ink to the scrolls.

This ink was not kept in a liquid form however. The ink was stored in dried cakes or bars and when writing the writer had to moisten sufficiently to transfer the ink to the tip of his brush or reed pen.

These early writers worked with two basic ink varieties. Some were quite resistant to smudging once they had dried -- even after they had been soaked in water for several weeks. Others could be wiped out with a damp cloth or sponge. ( Some scholars believe that this feature of some of the inks was the basis for the warning at Exodus 32:33 where Jehovah warned: " Whoever has sinned against me I shall wipe him out of my book.") That would create a very vivid impression in the mind of the listener or reader.

The editors of  Aid to Bible Understanding do not mention  when the first inks were produced or who came up with the idea, but do explain  that," To make the best inks much time was required to grind and disperse the pigments into their  vehicles,"  the liquid mediums containing that gum glue or varnish.