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Two thousand years ago,
papyrus was the most popular writing material in the
world. Today, modern papyrus is used as a specialty writing
material by artists and calligraphers. Papyrus,
from which we get the modern word paper, is a writing
material made from the papyrus plant, a reed which grows in
the marshy areas around the Nile river. Papyrus was used as
a writing material as early as 3,000 BC in ancient Egypt,
and continued to be used to some extent until around 1100
AD.
Although it was produced exclusively in Egypt, where the
papyrus plant grew, papyrus (the writing material) was
exported throughout the classical world, and it was the most
popular writing material for the ancient Greeks and Romans.
Papyrus sheets are made by arranging two layers of papyrus,
one atop the other, at right angles. The layers are then
pressed together, and the gum released by the breakdown of
the plant's cellular structure acts as a glue which bonds
the sheet together.
In ancient times, several sheets of papyrus were joined end
to end to form a roll. These rolls could be 100 feet or more
in length, and were the common form of papyrus in the
ancient world. The ancient library of Alexandria was home to
thousands of papyrus rolls containing the literary works of
ancient authors.
Papyrus was also the medium of the New Testament in the
early centuries after the death of Jesus. Christian texts
were often in the form of a codex, rather than a roll. A
codex contains several leaves bound together much like a
modern book.
Papyrus eventually gave way to parchment, and later,
paper. The large plantations in Egypt which used to
cultivate high-grade papyrus for manufacture disappeared,
and wild papyrus also began to disappear as the climate of
Egypt slowly changed.
Fortunately for modern scholars, the dry climate of Egypt
has preserved thousands of fragments of ancient papyrus.
These fragments form the basis of the field of papyrology,
the study of ancient papyrus. Papyrus texts offer scholars
new literary sources as well as documents, such as letters
and government records, which give much insight into life in
ancient Egypt.
However, the art of papyrus making remained dead for a
thousand years. During the 20th century, when more and more
papyrus texts came to light, scholars began to investigate
how ancient papyrus manufacturing occurred. Several
variations on the basic scheme, which is outlined in Pliny's
Natural History, were proposed and tested, but none has
produced a writing material which is of the quality of
ancient papyrus.
Two thousand years ago, papyrus making was a booming
industry, and papyrus was made by highly skilled craftsmen
working with a specially cultivated strain of papyrus that
was bred to produce a high quality writing material. Today,
papyrus is made from wild strains of papyrus, and the
manufacturing process is carried out on a small scale by the
few specialists who choose to make papyrus.
The Process
of Papyrus manufacturing
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Papyrus stalks are
harvested from along the banks of the Nile River
where they grew as a weed. It is unknown at what
time of year the ancient Egyptians harvested
papyrus, or whether mature papyrus was preferred
over young papyrus. |
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In ancient times, the entire plant was pulled from
the root at harvest time. The stalk of papyrus is
cut free from the base.
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The tough outer layer of
papyrus is peeled off. |
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The outer green skin is
removed from the stalk.The inner pith of the plant
is cut into long thin strips and these strips are
pounded to break down the fibers and then soaked for
3 days in water until the pith is clear and pliable. |
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The strips are cut to
length and laid, overlapping, on a piece of Cotton
fabric
Two layers of strips, one
horizontal and the other vertical are used. |
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The sheets of material are placed between two hard
absorbent barriers. These "sandwiches" are stacked
up and placed in a press. They are squeezed and left
in the Sun.
Every 8 hours the
absorbent barriers would be replaced.
This process go on for
about 3-4 days or until the Papyri are dry.
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After removal from the press the Papyri are used for
painting pictures, sending correspondence or
recording all kinds of events using oil or gauche
colors, inks or paint in the ancient Egyptian
written language now called "Hieroglyphic". |
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paintings and blank papyrus
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