Papyrus is the ancient Egyptians invention for writing paper, and it was the most important writing material in the ancient world. Our word “Paper” derives from the word “papyrus”, an ancient Egyptian word that originally meant “that which belongs to the house i.e. the bureaucracy of ancient Egypt”. Papyrus is a common marsh plant having a triangular reed that used to grow along the banks of the river Nile. The paper was made from the pith of a papyrus, the tall stems were cut down and carried off in bundles. Each stem was stripped of it is rind and cut into short pieces which were then cut lengthwise into narrow strips. The papyrus pith was kept soaked in water until the fibers become flexible and translucent.
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Two layers of papyrus strips arranged at right angles were put on a
hard flat object and beaten or pressed to desorb the water
until they fused together.
The
resulting sheets were left to dry in the direct sun for several
days, then they were
polished and glued together to form scrolls. Painting was carried out utilizing oil
colors or gauche colors. This art was missed for a very long time until it was
uncovered around sixty years ago by some researchers. The way our papyri is made
now in Egypt is a replica of that one used 3000 years ago. No chemicals, additives or
modifiers are used, this is to ensure that the work of the recent artisans looks the
same as that of their ancient grandfathers.
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| 1. Papyrus Plant |
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| 2. Cut the Papyrus |
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| 3. Making the sheets |
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| 4. Papyrus pressing |
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| 5. Painting |
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