Papyrus is, first of all, a reed plant of the sedge family. Due to its unsurpassed properties and special organic composition, papyrus became an indispensable writing medium and the material that was most widely used in antiquity.
Papyrus - what is it and what is its value?
The main components of papyrus are:
- cellulose - 57%;
- lignin – 27%;
- minerals - 9%;
- water - 7%.
As you can see, cellulose in papyrus is present in the largest percentage, which confirms the practical foresight of the invention - paper. It is the Egyptians who should be grateful for finding such useful material for writing and historical facts that have become known to us through many centuries. Until the 10th century, the production of papyrus flourished, and processing technology improved. Papyrus - what is it? From the reed plant they made: household utensils, clothes, sails, boats and even objects of artistic decoration. Therefore, papyrus was a widely used material in antiquity. Nowadays, you can watch and even try your hand atmaking papyrus paper in many places in Egypt. The suburbs of Cairo are literally heaped up with a variety of workshops and shops that allow you to make paper from cane with your own hands.
Papyrus - what is it and how was it made?
The process of making paper from cane can be divided into several main steps:
- The reed is separated from the outer shell, and the core of the papyrus is cut into thin strips. It is the middle part of the stem that becomes the direct part of the papyrus paper.
- Then thin strips of papyrus are soaked and smoothed.
- After that, the treated strips overlapped with a braid are laid out on a flat surface.
- The next step is to process the joints with a special adhesive. In ancient times, a variety of mollusks, muddy water or a glue solution of wheat flour could serve as glue.
- The press is the penultimate stage of technology. They could serve as stones heated by the sun.
- The final step in making paper was drying and polishing the papyrus leaf.
Ancient Egyptian papyri that have survived to this day often have a roll format, that is, the shape of a scroll. The produced sheets were glued together, which allowed the ancient scribes to write down quite voluminous works.
Papyrus - what is it: an eternal material or the use of special processing technologies?
It is worth noting that paper,made of papyrus, can retain its structure for quite a long period of time. Moisture and biological attack are the main natural factors in the destruction of papyrus, which is why the Egyptians kept them in specially designated places. Most often, such places were the inner rooms of the pyramids. The special technology of building the pyramids was the guarantor of the safe storage of papyrus scrolls.
It goes without saying that the papyri of ancient Egypt were subjected to special processing, as well as preserved in clay jugs and other man-made objects. Various cases were often used, scrolls were wound on sticks, creating suvois. A title (a special designation of the contents of a scroll) was attached to the suvois. Definitely created storage conditions and a dry microclimate became favorable factors that helped the ancient scrolls to overcome the millennia and appear before all mankind as a historical fact of the power and wisdom of an ancient civilization.
