Actual examples have been found from the Indus Valley and Mesopotamia civilisations, which were active from 3300BCE and 150BCE respectively. The first seals were made from clay and impressed using rings or cylinders. The usage of wax in seals did not take place until the Middle Ages


Sealing wax is a wax material of a seal which, after melting, hardens quickly (to paper, parchment, ribbons and wire, and other material) forming a bond that is difficult to separate without noticeable tampering. Wax is used to verify something such as a document is unopened, to verify the sender's identity, for example with a signet ring, and as decoration. Sealing wax can also be used to take impressions of other seals. Wax was used to seal letters close and later, from about the 16th century, envelopes. Before sealing wax, the Romans used bitumen for this purpose.