Papyrus

One of the earliest writing media, widely used in Ancient Egypt and exported to the Mediterranean. Papyrus (from which paper is derived) refers to both the product used for writing and the grassy, marsh plant growing in the Nile delta from which it comes, Cyperus papyrus. The wetness of continental Europe rendered papyrus highly vulnerable to decay, although it was a highly stable medium in the dry Egyptian heat. Highly versatile, papyrus was used for making cloth, sails, and rope, as well as paper. The inner pith of the thick papyrus stem was cut lengthwise into long strips and laid side by side in overlapping sheets. Overlapping sheets of equal thickness were laid on top at right angles, and the two layers were press-dried and polished. The result was a thin, fairly flexible length of white material that was not initially bound into a codex, as parchment and paper subsequently were, but rolled into scrolls, using up to 20 sheets of papyrus per roll. Only later, in the Graeco-Roman era, was papyrus sewn into quires and bound. Doing so addressed the problem of the brittleness of papyrus, which was not flexible enough to be unrolled and rolled with much frequency. The script, made with a reed brush on one side of the papyrus, followed the lie of the fibers across the length of the scroll. If the papyrus was reused, it would be written on the back, and the script ran horizontally, against the fiber. Although less expensive than parchment, papyrus was still costly and was recycled (palimpsest). Another cheap alternative for everyday texts was unglazed pottery. The softness of papyrus allowed the development of a quicker, cursive hieratic script. Although it was soon replaced by parchment, papyrus use continued surprisingly for quite some time, until the 11th century in Europe and the 12th century in the Byzantine Empire.