Papyrus

Papyrus is an early form of paper that was made from the stem of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus, which can grow to fifteen feet in height. Papyrus was first used in Ancient Egypt in 3000 BC, but by about 1000 BC, peoples from West Asia started to buy it from the Egyptians and use it for themselves since 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 also our word paper has been deduced.

The triangular stems were cut lengthwise and soaked in water long enough for them to begin to rot. Several layers of strips were laid in different directions (usually perpendicularly) and hammered together while still wet, mashing the layers together 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 ink 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 the papyrus to buckle.

Antique papyrus

In a dry climate, like Egypt's, papyrus is stable but storage in humid conditions will result in molding. The imported papyrus that was commonplace in Greece and Italy has since deteriorated beyond repair over time, but extraordinary papyri are still being found in Egypt – notable examples include 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 partly excavated.

In Egypt papyrus remained in use until 800 AD when it was replaced by the cheaper paper, which was introduced there by the Arabs. In Europe the Holy See continued to use papyrus for official documents until 1100 AD.

In modern times, the technique of papyrus production was lost. It was only rediscovered in 1962 by the Egyptian engineer Hassan Ragab.

Papyrus is also the name of a computer font.