Papyrus
It is an egyptian plant, one of the most famous plants man has known from the beginning of history. It is a water plant growing on the banks of river nile.
- ancient egyptians used papyrus in many purposes. They ate the lower part of the trunk, which is said to have been a popular food of acceptable taste.
- the remaining part of the trunk was used for making ropes.
- the ancient people also used papyrus for making mats to sit on and mattresses for sleeping on. It was made into boats for catching fish and birds. Papyrus was also used for making many things which the ancient man used in his daily life.
- but the most important use of papyrus was in the field of making writing paper.
- the ancient egyptians monopolized the industry of papyrus and exporting it to all parts of the ancient world for more than three thousand years.
- although the ancient egyptians were very careful to put down everything that was related to their ordinary life; of science, arts and industry, they didnµt put down anything about the industry of papyrus. With the beginning of the interest in egyptian monuments and related matters, scholars and researchers tended to study papyrus and the ways of making it. But all these researches and experiments didnµt reach practical results which may lead to the rediscovering and surviving of papyrus industry again.
When the egyptians began to write, about 4000 bc, they wrote from the beginning in ink, on papyrus (pah-pie-russ). Papyrus is a plant that grows wild all over the nile river valley, which is to say it is very common in egypt. You can cut the long stalks and soak them in water until they rot a little, and then you lay a lot of these stalks next to each other, and a lot of other stalks on top, crossways to the first ones, and then you pound them flat, until all the stalks get mashed into all the other ones, and you have something a lot like paper.
