Steganography (Part 2, History)

Source of the word Steganography was from the Greek steganos (covered or secret) and -graphy (writing or drawing). Literally it is covered writing. Steganography has come to mean hidden writing, i.e., writing that is not readily discernible to the casual observer. For example, using invisible ink by kids for writing messages is an example of Steganography since the writing is hidden in the sense that it is not obvious that it is there unless you know to look for it.

Steganography was only coined at the end of the 15th century. the use of Steganography dates back several millennia. In ancient times, messages were hidden on the back of wax writing tables, written on the stomachs of rabbits, or tattooed on the scalp of slaves. Invisible ink has been in use for centuries. Microdots and microfilm, a staple of war and spy movies, came about after the invention of photography (Arnold et al. 2003; Johnson et al. 2001; Kahn 1996; Wayner 2002).
For example, in ancient Rome and Greece, text was traditionally written on wax that was poured on top of stone tablets. If the sender of the information wanted to obscure the message they would use Steganography: the wax would be scraped off and the message would be inscribed or written directly on the tablet, wax would then be poured on top of the message, thereby obscuring not just its meaning but its very existence.