WELCOME TO OUR PAPYRUS PAGE
The Papyrus
History:
The Egyptian papyrus plant grows along the banks of
the Nile's fresh water. It has long roots and stems and the ancient Egyptians used it in
building ships and making paper to record history, inventories & other government
affairs.
The word Papyrus in Egyptian came to be Paper in modern languages.
Over time, the technique for manufacturing papyrus was long forgotten, but in the late
1940's, a well-known Egyptologist rediscovered the secret of how the Papyri were made 3000
years ago.
The outer bark of the papyrus plant is removed and the inner pith
sliced into thin strips, which are subsequently hammered to break the fibers and drain the
water . They are then reimbursed into ordinary water for 3 days until the fibers become
flexible and transparent.
The papyrus strips are cut to the
required length and placed on a piece of cotton, each at a slight overlap making two
layers. "one horizontal and the other vertical".
The papyrus sheets are put between
two pieces of cardboard and placed under a hand press to be squeezed and left in the sun
until dry. The cardboard is changed every 8 hours and the drying process takes about 3-4
days.
Finally, the papyrus sheets are ready for
painting pictures, sending correspondence or recording all kinds of events using oil or
gauche colors, inks or paint in the ancient Egyptian written language (now called
Hieroglyphic language).
  
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