A pen (Latin: penna, pen) is a writing instrument used to apply the ink to a surface, such as paper, for writing or drawing. Historically, cane feathers, quill feathers and dipping feathers were used, with a feather dipped in the ink. Labels allow precise adjustment of line width, and still find some specialized uses, but technical pens like the Rapidograph are most commonly used. Modern types also include ballpoint pen, pen, fountain and felt or ceramic markers.
Ancient Egyptians had developed writing on papyrus scrolls when scribes used fine reed brushes or feathers from Juncus maritimus or sea rush. In his book A History of Writing, Steven Roger Fischer suggests that based on findings in Saqqara, Well have been used to write on parchment for some time as the First Dynasty or around 3000 BC. Reed feathers continued to be used until the Middle Ages, but were slowly replaced by pimples of about 7th century. The reed pen, usually made of bamboo, is still used in some parts of Pakistan by young students and is used for writing on small boards made of wood.
The reed pen survived until the papyrus was replaced as writing surface by animal skins, calf and parchment. The smoother surface of the skin allowed for finer, smaller writing with a quill pen, derived from the flying pen. The quill pen was used in Qumran, Judea to write some of the Dead Sea Scrolls, which date back to around 100 BC. The scrolls were written in Hebrew dialects with feathers or bird feathers. There is a specific reference to the quills in the writings of St. Isidore of Seville in the seventh century. Feather pens were still widely used in the 18th century, and were used to write and sign the United States Constitution in 1787.