Papyrus is, first of all, a reed plant, a family of sedge. Due to its unsurpassed properties and special organic composition, papyrus has become an indispensable means of writing and material, which received the widest application 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 ratio, which confirms the practical foresight of the invention - paper. It is the Egyptians who need to be thankful for finding such useful material for writing and historical facts that have become known to us through many centuries. Until the tenth century, papyrus production flourished, and processing technology improved. Papyrus - what is it? From cane plants were made: household utensils, clothes, sails, boats and even objects of artistic decoration. Therefore, papyrus in antiquity was a widely used material. Today you can observe and even try your hand at making papyrus paper in many places in Egypt. The suburbs of Cairo are literally heaped with a variety of workshops and shops, allowing you to make reed paper yourself.
Papyrus - what is it and how was it made?
The process of making paper from cane can be divided into several main stages:
- 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 immediate part of papyrus paper.
- Then thin strips of papyrus are soaked and smoothed.
- After that, the processed strips with an overlap with a wicker are laid out on a flat surface.
- The next step is to treat the joints with a special adhesive. In ancient times, various mollusks, silty water or a glutinous solution of wheat flour could serve as glue.
- The press is the penultimate stage of technology. Stones heated by the sun could serve them.
- The final moment of paper making was drying and polishing of the papyrus sheet.
Ancient Egyptian papyruses that have survived to this day often have a roll format, that is, the shape of a scroll. The sheets produced were glued together, which allowed the ancient scribes to record quite voluminous works.
Papyrus - what is it: eternal material or the use of special processing technologies?
It is worth noting that paper made from papyrus can retain its structure for a sufficiently long period of time. Moisture and biological effects are the main natural factors in the destruction of papyrus, so the Egyptians stored them in specially designated places. Most often, such places became the inner rooms of the pyramids. A special technology for the construction of the pyramids was the guarantor of the safe storage of papyrus scrolls.
It goes without saying that the papyrus of ancient Egypt was subjected to special processing, as well as canned in clay jugs and other items of man-made nature. Often used a variety of cases, scrolls wound on sticks, creating suvoy. The titulus (a special designation of the contents of the scroll) was attached to the suvoys. Certainly created storage conditions and a dry microclimate became favorable factors that helped the ancient scrolls overcome millennia and appear before all of humanity as a historical fact of the power and wisdom of ancient civilization.