A portion of Luke on parchment (hair side) owned by CSNTM

There is an interesting story concerning the historic development of parchment as a writing material. The improvement of leather for writing purposes is credited to King Eumenes of a city in Asia called Pergamum (the city mentioned in Rev. 2.12–16), from which parchment receives its name. According to the story, King Eumenes wanted to build a library greater than the famous one in Alexandria, Egypt. Of course, this did not please Egypt's ruler who then placed an embargo on papyrus sections which were used to make papyri, the most common writing material at the time. Since Egypt was the only available source for papyrus, King Eumenes was forced to develop a high quality alternative out of animal skins – parchment. Although the details of this story may not be accurate, the city from which parchment receives its name, Pergamum, became famous for the manufacturing and exportation of this material.

Parchment was made from the skins of cattle, sheep, goats, and antelopes. Skins with minimal flaws were cleaned by being soaked in a lime solution for 3–10 days, then scraped on both sides with a knife, and thoroughly rinsed with water. In order to turn these skins into parchment, they had to be carefully stretched, dried, and scraped with a crescent-shaped knife until they reached the desired thinness. Parchment is distinct from leather in that it is not tanned, making it more susceptible to the environment.