Authentication methods are older than you might think. They used two factor authentication back in Rome during the late republic years.<p>Wealthier patrician households shared mail centers to retrieve messages sent from other provinces. When entering the mail center, you had to provide a series of code words that were changed every time new consuls were chosen. Then if the code words were accepted, the mail house would take a print of the right thumb and compare it against ink prints on file. If a patrician hadn't visited a mail house in a while, there was a third step to make extra sure of the patrician's authenticity. He would be shown a series of drawings, and would have to identify which ones contained buses.
> Seals also appear in the Bible<p>This sentence shows the cultural and religious focus of the author, to the point it hides a richer history. Seals were used in this region thousand of years before the Hebrew tribes appeared.<p>The cylinder seals of Mesopotamia are my favorites. It was simple to use (roll it on the clay that wraps the tablet). Forgery was hard. And some of the seals were marvelous art. Rich people often had Lapis Lazuli seals, from stones excavated in modern Afghanistan. Many seals are in museums, with images available online.
Good one.<p>I think a signature these days mean that you claim to have read and understood the document — rather than authentication.<p>After all, when was the last time most of us signed a cheque?
It's a shame that TFA has no mention of Indenture, which for all of it's associations with indentured servitude, was a very pragmatic solution for document authentication<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indenture" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indenture</a>
Relevant video on proving your identity in antiquity:<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alpKlV_MKgE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alpKlV_MKgE</a>