PAPYRUS. The cyperus papyrus is a sedge, which still grows plentifully in the Sudan. In ancient times, as abundant evidence shows, it grew throughout all the Nile valley, the Delta, and, according to Pliny (Nat. Hist. XIII. 68-83), in Syria also. Pliny, in the passage cited, describes the plant and its manifold uses. It grows, he wrote,

in the swamps of Egypt or else in the sluggish waters of the Nile where they have overflowed and lie stagnant in pools not more than about three feet in depth; it has a sloping root as thick as a man’s arm, and tapers gracefully up with triangular sides to a length of not more than about fifteen feet, ending in a head like a thyrsus; it has no seed, and is of no use except that the flowers are made into wreaths for statues of the gods. The roots are employed by the natives for timber, and not only to serve as firewood but also for making various utensils and vessels; indeed the papyrus itself is plaited to make boats, and the inner bark is woven into sailcloth and matting, and also cloth, as well as blankets and ropes. It is also used as chewing gum, both in the raw state and when boiled, though only the juice is swallowed.

It is a graceful plant, and may be seen in pictures of Egyp. goddesses, held in the hand as a symbol of divinity. The clustered buds gave the architect a decorative motif.

The papyrus, as Pliny said, had manifold uses. Bound in long bundles it provided handy rafts or canoes for bird hunting in the fens of the Delta. Above all, its tough stems gave mankind its first writing material which transformed lit.

Pliny describes the process. He writes:

The process of making paper from papyrus is to split it with a knife into very thin strips made as broad as possible the best quality being in the center of the plant and so on in the order of its splitting up. The first quality used to be called “hieratic paper” and was in early times devoted solely to books connected with religion, but in a spirit of flattery it was given the name of Augustus just as the second best was called “Livia paper” after his consort, and thus the name “hieratic” came down to the third class. The next quality had been given the name of “amphitheatre paper,” from the place of its manufacture. This paper was taken over by the clever workshop of Fannius at Rome, and its texture was made finer by a careful process of insertion, so that it was changed from common paper into one of first-class quality, and received the name of the maker; but the paper of this kind that did not have this additional treatment remained in its own class as amphitheatre paper. Next to this is the Saitic paper named from the town where it is produced in the greatest abundance, being made from shavings of inferior quality, and the Taeneotic, from a neighbouring place, made from material still nearer the outside skin, in the case of which we reach a variety that is sold by mere weight and not for its quality. As for what is called “emporitic” paper, it is no good for writing but serves to provide covers for documents and wrappers for merchandise, and consequently takes its name from the Greek word for a merchant. After this comes the actual papyrus, and its outermost layer, which resembles a rush and is of no use even for making ropes, except those used in water.

Paper of all kinds is “woven” on a board moistened with water from the Nile, muddy liquid supplying the effect of glue. First an upright layer is smeared on to the table, using the full length of papyrus available after the trimmings have been cut off at both ends, and afterwards cross strips complete the latticework. The next step is to press it in presses, and the sheets are dried in the sun and then joined together, the next strip used always diminishing in quality down to the worst of all. There are never more than twenty sheets to a roll.

Smoothed by pumice and hammered hard, the papyrus provided a writing material that was almost indestructible if kept dry. It never rains S of Cairo. On these two facts the whole science of papyrology rests.

Bibliography C. K. Barrett, The New Testament Background: Selected Documents (n.d.), 22-27.