Papyrus

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 * John Foster** **Papyrus**


 * Papyrus was a long thin reed that grew along the river banks that was very valuable to the Egyptians.** The papyrus reed grew about thirteen feet tall and the leaves were sharp. //The Egyptians used it for lots of things like roofs, baskets, and other things like that. The earliest boats in Egypt were also made of papyrus. The main thing papyrus was used for was paper. The word paper comes from the word papyrus. Scribes were able to read and sent papyrus scrolls.//

To make papyrus the outer skin was peeled away. The pith was cut into strips and soaked. The strips were arranged on top of each other, hammered and pressed together with weights. **Papyrus was expensive** so all unimportant writing was written on wood tablets. The word papyrus means that which belongs to the house. If papyrus had writing on it, it was called papyri. The stem of the papyrus plant was also used for making mattresses.

The Egyptians had used papyrus for four-thousand years until they found other plants to make paper and other things with. Ancient Greeks and Romans started using the same method to make papyrus so they could make their paper and other things fast. The climate of Egypt and certain parts of Mesopotamia preserved papyri in the ruins of ancient towns and cemeteries. Papyrus eventually vanished in Egypt due to overharvesting for boats, baskets, sandals, rope, and writing. A few papyri outside Egypt survived. Papyrus is still made, but normally as a tourist attraction. []

Bibliography:

Ancient Egypt (book) Author: Hart,George Publisher: Dorling Kindersley (c): 1990-2000 publishing city: NY

A message of ancient days (book) Author: Houghton Mifflin Social Studies Publisher: Houton Mifflin Social Studies (c): 1997 Publishing city: Boston

The usborne encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt (book) Authors: Harvey, Gill and Reid, Straun Publisher: Publishing Ltd (c): 2001 Publishing city: London England

Egypt-Ancient paper: Papyrus (website article) Name of website: kidzworld.com Address: [] Date published: 2001 publisher:kidzworld