Leopold Löw investigated the history of writing, and of the materials used
among the Jews, in his _Graphische Requisiten und Erzeugnisse bei den
Juden_ (2 vols., Leipzig, 1870-71).
On Jewish letter-carriers in Germany, see the article of Dr. I. Kracauer in
the "Jewish Encyclopedia," viii, p. 15. The first Post-Jude is named in
1722. These Jewish letter-carriers received no salary from the Government,
but collected a fee from the recipients of the letters.
The Talmudic _Bê-Davvar_ [Hebrew: beth-yod-(maqqef)-daleth-vav-aleph-resh]
was really a Court of Justice (perhaps a Circuit Court). As, however,
_davvar_ meant a despatch-bearer, the phrase _Bê-Davvar_ passed over later
into the meaning Post-Office. _Davvar_ seems connected with the root _dur,_
"to form a circle"; the pael form _(davvar)_ would mean "to go around,"
perhaps to travel with merchandise and letters.