Papyrus (Greek πάπυρος) is a material used in ancient times for writing in Egypt and other countries. It probably appeared with the emergence of writing, back in the pre-dynastic era in Ancient Egypt (end of the 5th millennium - approx. 3100 BC).
It is necessary
- - papyrus;
- - water;
- - pots or containers for soaking;
- - large surfaces for drying papyrus (floor or table);
- - heavy press;
- - fine matter;
- - heavy club or wooden hammer;
- - a smoothing tool.
Instructions
Step 1
For the manufacture of papyrus, the plant of the same name (Cyperus papyrus), which grows on the banks of the Nile, was previously used. Today, the decorative papyrus of the sedge family has almost disappeared. Given the necessary materials, the process of creating a canvas for writing is relatively simple and quite feasible at home.
Step 2
To make a canvas for writing, freshly picked stems of papyrus must be peeled from the bark. The stem is cut very thinly, keeping the maximum width. It should be noted that the outer fibers and the core are of the same quality.
Step 3
Excess sugar must be removed from the resulting blanks. For this, the strips obtained from the core are soaked in water. The material must be soaked until the excess sugar is gone and the water turns milky white.
Step 4
Next, the workpieces must be prepared for drying. Place the strips under a heavy press to allow the glass excess water and align the fibers.
Step 5
Now you need to form a sheet. To do this, on a flat surface (floor or table), spread the papyrus strips side by side with a slight overlap. Lay the second layer of material on top at right angles to the first. Cover the top with a thin cloth. All this must be pounded with a heavy club or wooden hammer for an hour. In ancient Egypt, this was done with a rounded stone, the most convenient size for holding by hand.
Step 6
Drying the papyrus: Place a heavy press on top of the resulting sheet shapes and dry them for a week. During the drying process, the remaining sugar in the blanks will firmly glue the pieces together and form a continuous web of tissue paper that can be used for writing.
Step 7
At the end of the process, the dried sheets of papyrus are beaten off with a baton and smoothed, glued into scrolls or stitched into books.
Step 8
The face used for writing was the one on which the fibers were located horizontally. It was possible to use the reverse side only when the main text was no longer needed. However, more often than not, unnecessary text was simply washed off.
