[Manuscript Ruling Frame]

Manuscript scribes need a system of ruled lines as a guide for their work, in order to make their writing uniform on the page. One common method of faintly marking such lines was a ruling frame. Thread or wires were woven in uniform lines through a wooden board. Before writing the scribe would place a blank leaf (page) on the board and press it firmly to imprint the lines on the leaf. After time, these lines would fade leaving uniform writing on the page. The ruling frame pictured here was made in 1979 by the monk Eliyo Öztaş as part of carrying on the Syriac scribal traditions.