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Papyrus is an early form of paper made from the stems of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that grows to 5 meters (15 ft) in height and was once abundant in the Nile River delta. Papyrus was first used in Ancient Egypt around 3000 BC, but by 1000 BC, peoples from West Asia started to buy it from the Egyptians and use it themselves as it was much more convenient than clay tablets. The Egyptians called it pa-per-aa which means "property of Pharaoh", denoting that the Egyptian Pharaoh owned the monopoly of papyrus production.
The Greeks adapted the name and changed it into papure from which the English word "paper" derives. The study of manuscripts written on papyrus, or papyrology, is an essential tool for historians of Classical Antiquity.
To make papyrus, the herbaceous stems of the plant were cut lengthwise and soaked in water long enough for them to begin to rot. Several layers of these strips were laid in different directions (usually perpendicularly) and hammered together while still wet, mashing the layers into a single sheet. Because only one side of the sheet was used, the surface that was written upon was treated with sizing so that the inks would not bleed.
Scrolls were the initial use, but later the practice was to cut sheets from the rolls in order to form codices when the codex (or book) was invented. Papyrus is occasionally used for artwork, but watermedia can cause papyrus to buckle.
In a dry climate like that of Egypt, papyrus is stable; but storage in humid conditions can result in molds attacking and eventually destroying the material. Imported papyrus that was once commonplace in Greece and Italy has since deteriorated beyond repair, but papyri are still being found in Egypt — extraordinary examples include the Elephantine papyri and the famous finds at Oxyrhynchus and Nag Hammadi. The Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum, containing the library of Julius Caesar's father-in-law, was preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, but has only been partially excavated.
In Egypt papyrus remained in use until 800 AD, when it was replaced by cheaper paper, which was introduced there by Arabs. In Europe the Holy See continued to use papyrus for official documents until 1100 AD. The technique of papyrus production was eventually lost in modern times and only rediscovered in 1962 by the Egyptian engineer Hassan Ragab.
Papyrus is also the name of a computer font.
Papyrus Australia [www.papyrusinternational.org] is a company that makes paper from Banana trees, using no water, no chemicals and minimal power. It uses the same basic principles as the ancient papyrus, the first attempt to do this on an industrial scale since the bulk of the paper industry moved to the chemical, water and energy intensive pulping process about 500 years ago.
de:Papyrus (Schreibmaterial) es:Papiro
ja:パピルス
nl:Papyrus fr:Papyrus
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