![]() ![]() It shoots up to an imposing 15 feet, its slender stalk topped with bushy umbels and a feathery plume. So, whoever controlled Egypt controlled the medium of choice, and it was big business, employing thousands of people, some highly specialized for the different branches of the industry: cultivating and harvesting the plant, transporting the raw material to the factory, fabrication, sale, and shipment of the finished product.Įgypt's papyrus, a member of the water-loving sedge family, is among the fastest growing, most productive plants on earth. This was, of course, far easier to carry around.įailure of the Egyptian papyrus crop could mean to the Roman world a paralysis of commerce and affairs of state, and suspension of work for innumerable scribes who carried on the enormous labor of transcription. Originally carved on stone, it was later written on papyrus paper. One Roman statesman, Cassiodorus, openly admitted that he did not know how the civilized Western world had got on without it, since by his day it was used for books, records of business, correspondence, orders of the day for the Roman army, even the first newspaper, the Acta Diurna. the Romans took over management of the industry, which went on to supply the whole of the Roman Empire with scrolls and sheets. In later years, Egyptian rule gave way and from 30 B.C. to the 10th century - a span of 4,000 years. This gave the Western world its predominant writing material: The Egyptian Book of the Dead, the guide to the afterlife, was printed on papyrus, as were the overwhelming majority of Bibles and everything from shopkeepers' bills to Roman government documents. Then cross-laid them with other strips, the mat held together as a sheet once the water was pressed out. If all else failed, they could use papyrus as fuel to cook with, and if they were hungry they could eat it, and when they died they went by papyrus boat to their heaven: the greatest papyrus swamp of all, the Field of Reeds.Īnd then, of course, there was the paper.Īncient Egyptians discovered that when you peeled papyrus stems, then dampened and cut the interior pith into strips The fish they ate were nursed by the swamps the wild birds they captured wintered in the swamps. Papyrus rope was used to move monuments, build pyramids, and craft items around the house. "The earliest boats, houses and temples were made from the stems of papyrus," he writes. It's impossible to overstate the importance of the role papyrus played in the economy of ancient Egypt and the everyday lives of its people. Want to know how to make papyrus paper or a papyrus boat? Look no further. It is also an impassioned plea for the conservation of the world's diminishing wetlands. Papyrus: The Plant That Changed the World is part scholarly history, part treatise in economic and historical botany, part anthropological travelog and part how-to guide. ![]() According to author and ecologist John Gaudet, apparently the world's most passionate advocate of the plant, it was the basis of the most vital man/plant relationship in human history and the most important factor in the shaping of modern civilization. But, it turns out, we don't know the half of it. Leaves: Leaf Color: Brown/Copper Red/Burgundy Hairs Present: No Leaf Description: Red-brown, papery, triangular scales on the lower stem are reduced leaves.Every schoolchild knows about papyrus: the Egyptians invented it as the precursor to modern day paper Moses' floating crib in the bullrushes Thor Heyerdahl's "Kontiki" expeditions, proving that the ancients' papyrus vessels could have traversed the oceans.The non-descript, greenish-brown flowers are produced at the ends. Small, secondary umbels with 3-5 rays and narrow, elongated bracts are produced on the ends of the rays. Flowers: Flower Color: Brown/Copper Green Flower Inflorescence: Insignificant Umbel Flower Size: Fruit: Fruit Color: Brown/Copper Fruit Description: Brown, nut-like fruits.Cultural Conditions: Light: Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day) Partial Shade (Direct sunlight only part of the day, 2-6 hours) Soil Texture: Loam (Silt) Soil pH: Neutral (6.0-8.0) Soil Drainage: Frequent Standing Water Moist USDA Plant Hardiness Zone: 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b.Whole Plant Traits: Plant Type: Water Plant Habit/Form: Erect Maintenance: Medium Texture: Medium.Life Cycle: Perennial Recommended Propagation Strategy: Root Cutting Country Or Region Of Origin: Africa It was also burned and the ashes used medicinally. Attributes: Genus: Cyperus Species: papyrus Family: Cyperaceae Uses (Ethnobotany): Was used to make a paper called papyrus. ![]()
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