Egyptian documents of great historical value have been preserved on these fragile rolls. The Egyptian rolls were sometimes of great length and were often beautifully decorated with colored vignettes (Book of the Dead). The process and the product are described by Pliny the EIder (NH.xiii.11-13).Įgyptian papyrus rolls are in existence dating from the 27th century BC, and no doubt the manufacture of papyrus had been practiced for centuries before. The sheets thus formed were pasted one to another to form a roll of any length desired.
Two layers of these strips were laid at right angles to each other, pasted together (Pliny says with the aid of Nile water), dried and smoothed. The white cellular pith of the long triangular papyrus stalk was stripped of its bark or rind and sliced into thin strips. Most importantly, from it was made the tough and inexpensive paper which was used from very ancient times in Egypt and which became the common writing-material of the ancient world. ii.37, 69), and bundles of the long, light stalks were bound together into light boats ( Isaiah 18:2 Breasted, History of the Egyptians, 91). Ropes, sandals, and mats were made from its fibers (see Odyssey xxi.391 Herod. Like the lotus, it suggested one of the favorite capitals of Egyptian architecture. The papyrus tuft was the emblem of the Northern Kingdom in Egypt. Pa-pi'-rus (Cyperus papyrus bublos, biblos, whence biblion, a roll, ta biblia, "the Books" = the Bible):Ī marsh or water plant, abundant in Egypt in ancient times, serving many purposes in antiquity.
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