It did not have a worthy rival until the rise of parchment in the second century AD. As the Christian church grew and became rich enough to afford such an expensive material, parchment in codex form became synonymous with the Church.
When the Church and Christianity prevailed over the Roman Empire, the parchment codex became the standard for medieval European scribes and papyrus began its decline. After learning about the material at length in our Ancient Book class, we got our hands dirty with papyrus in our first transcription project.
We were given ten individual sheets, approximately the size of a standard sheet of printer paper. We then pasted the sheets together, with the horizontal fibers facing up and the vertical fibers facing the table. We overlapped the sheets, placing the left sheet over the right and gluing them together. After flattening the joint of the pages with a bone saw, we let the scroll dry for a day. Then, using a reed pen and a fountain pen, we copied approximately lines of text onto the scroll.
I found the process of writing on the papyrus to be at times quite difficult. The nib of the fountain pen often got caught on the fibers and the ink would run and smudge. Also, the pen would sometimes break through the papyrus, slightly ripping the sheet and leaving a blemish. Throughout project, I did not find a great way to correct errors and ink blotches.
I tried scraping the papyrus like we saw in many examples, but our sheets were too brittle and would often break under whatever tool I used for the corrections. In the end, I found the most aesthetically-appealing method to be a simple line crossing out the incorrect section of text. Despite these difficulties, I was surprised and impressed by the quality of the papyrus as a writing surface.
Although the sheets would occasionally rip, the papyrus overall was very durable. I attribute the holes and scratches to the sharpness of the metal nib of the pen, rather than the fragile nature of the material. Based on this experience, it is easy to see why papyrus became popular and remained so for thousands of years. The scroll we produced was portable, strong, and aesthetically appealing. Ancient Egypt Timelines. The Neighbors: Kush and Nubia.
Women could run a business. Children were cherished. Marriage and Divorce. Hair Styles. Jewelry and Perfume. Food - no one went hungry. The Marketplace. Table Manners. House of Life.
House of Books. Medicine and Doctors. Craftsmen and Merchants. Farming and Farmers. Social Classes. The Ankh - Key of Life. Ancient Egyptian Art. Donn's 6th grade class. Scarab Beetles. Nicholson and Ian Shaw. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, Oxford: Oxford University Press, Parkinson, Richard B. Austin: University of Texas Press, Visiting The Met?
Model Paddling Boat. Heqanakht Account VII. Heqanakht Letter I. Mirror of the Chief of the Southern Tens Reniseneb. Letter written in hieratic script on papyrus. Papyrus Marsh Hugh R. Menat necklace from Malqata. Pair of Sandals from the Tomb of Yuya and Tjuyu. Papyrus Lid. Haremhab as a Scribe of the King. Palette inscribed for Smendes, High Priest of Amun.
Statuette of Wadjet in the name of Akanosh son of Pediamenopet. During the 20th century, when more and more papyrus texts came to light, scholars began to investigate how ancient papyrus manufacturing occurred. Several variations on the basic scheme, which is outlined in Pliny's Natural History , were proposed and tested, but none has produced a writing material which is of the quality of ancient papyrus. Two thousand years ago, papyrus making was a booming industry, and papyrus was made by highly skilled craftsmen working with a specially cultivated strain of papyrus that was bred to produce a high quality writing material.
Today, papyrus is made from wild strains of papyrus, and the manufacturing process is carried out on a small scale by the few specialists who choose to make papyrus.
This exhibit is a result of their labors. To learn how to make papyrus, return to the main page , and view the slide show. This exhibit was designed by Terrence Szymanski.
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