A scroll is a roll, as of papyrus or paper, used as a support for painting or writing. Any scroll meant to be viewed by manually unrolling is a hand scroll. A scroll intended for continuous exhibition upon a wall is a hanging scroll.

The first scrolls were written about two thousand years ago. They date back from the third century BCE to the first century CE. Most of the scrolls were written in Hebrew, with a smaller number in Aramaic or Greek. Most of them were written on parchment, with the exception of a few written-on papyrus.