Writing case

The writing case was a small box, usually made of wood, for carrying several pens (1.7.2) and sometimes a cake of dried ink (1.7.4). Inside the case, in addition to several reed pens, there were receptacles where the ink was mixed at the time of writing. A person generally carried this case by hanging it from his belt. Sometimes the object for mixing the ink had the shape of a palette, with two circular hollows for two colors of ink, and was carried by hanging it from a cord.

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The closest equivalent in many languages for “writing case” would be “pencil case,” but this could sound anachronistic. It is also possible to render it with a descriptive phrase, such as “a small box in which he carried pens” or “… in which he carried writing instruments.”