Papyrus papyrus is a writing medium widely used by ancient Egyptians. It was made from the stems of papyrus papyrus, which was abundant in the Nile Delta at that time. Around 3000 BC, the ancient Egyptians began to use papyrus, and exported this specialty to ancient Mediterranean civilization areas such as ancient Greece, and even distant European inland and western Asia.
The study of ancient manuscripts written on papyrus, or papyrus, is a basic tool for ancient Greek and Roman historians. [Edit this paragraph] Paper-making method: pinch the sedge from the head to the tail, keep the middle part, peel off the green skin outside, and then chop the remaining part into pieces with a knife. The pieces should be soaked in water for a few days to remove excess sugar. Sandwiched between two pieces of linen, beat it hard until the water is drained, then press it with a big stone, and then polish it with pumice when it is dry. [Edit this paragraph] The translation of papyrus is called "papyrus" in English, and the word "paper" in English comes from this word. [Edit this paragraph] Papyrus papyrus used in history can not rot for thousands of years in dry environment, and was once the most important export commodity in ancient Egypt. However, in the 9th century, papyrus mysteriously disappeared, and the manufacturing technology was lost, even papyrus disappeared in Egypt.
After the loss of papyrus 1000 years, Dr. Hassan ragheb of Egypt regenerated papyrus. He went upstream along the Nile, and after years of searching, he finally found papyrus in southern Sudan and moved it back to Egypt. After painstaking research, the secret of papyrus made by ancient Egyptians was finally revealed. Etymology papyrus is written in English, which is Greek π? 0? 4πυρο? 0? The Latin transliteration of 9( papuros) is also the origin of the word "paper" in English. It is said that the ancient Egyptians called papyrus pa-per-aa, which means "Pharaoh's property", indicating that Pharaoh had a monopoly on papyrus production. However, so far, no ancient literature has been found that mentioned this statement. In Egyptian, papyrus is called wadj [w3? 5? 9]，tjufy [? 5? 5wfy], and djet [? 5? 9t]。 In fact, there is no known connection between Greek papuros and Egyptian. Historical development papyrus has been used until the eighth century, and then it withdrew from the historical stage due to the spread of papermaking. In Egypt, papyrus was used until the 9th century and was replaced by cheap paper imported from Arabia. Before this, parchment and kraft paper have replaced papyrus in many fields, because they are more durable in humid environment and they can be produced anywhere. In Europe, the church still used papyrus in its official documents until about 1 1 century. The latest surviving papyrus documents with exact dates are a papal decree of 1057 and an Arabic document written in 1087.
The Byzantine Empire still used papyrus until the 12 century, but failed to leave any physical objects.
After the death of papyrus, the technology of making papyrus was also lost due to the lack of records. Later, French scholars who followed Napoléon Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt collected the physical objects of ancient Egyptian papyrus, but failed to recover its manufacturing method. Until 1962, Egyptian engineer Hassan Ragab re-invented the technology of making papyrus by using 1872, which was introduced back to Egypt from France. [Edit this paragraph] Making and using the raw material for producing papyrus is the stem of papyrus. First, the hard green outer skin of Cyperus sedge stem is cut off, and the light-colored inner stem is cut into strips of about 40 cm, and then cut into thin slices. The cut thin slices should be soaked in water for at least 6 days to remove the sugar contained. After that, these strips are arranged side by side into one layer, and then another layer is covered on it, and the two layers of thin sheets should be perpendicular to each other. Spread these sheets evenly between two layers of linen, beat them with a mallet while wet, press the two sheets into one piece and squeeze out the water, then press them with heavy objects such as stones (now they are usually pressed by machines), dry them and polish them with pumice to get the finished papyrus. Because only one side of the paper is used, the writing side should be sized so that the ink will not leak when writing.
The ancient Egyptians originally used paper rolls as scrolls, but later, for convenience, they cut them into pieces to make manuscripts, so that books appeared. Now papyrus is occasionally used for painting, but water-quality pigments will distort the paper.
Papyrus can be well preserved in the dry climate of Egypt. But it is easily destroyed by mold in humid environment. Therefore, when papyrus, which was introduced and used in Greece and Italy in large quantities, was mostly damaged in the end, the remaining papyrus scrolls could be found in Egypt, such as Elephantine papyri, the famous discovery in Oxyrhynchus and Nag Hammadi Codex. Cyperuspapyrus, English name is Bulrush or Paperreed, also known as papyrus, Egyptian papyrus and Egyptian papyrus.
Papyrus in the Royal Botanical Garden in London
. It belongs to Cyperaceae and Cyperaceae. It is a perennial herb native to Africa.
Growth pattern
Papyrus papyrus is a tall and tough emergent plant, which can grow to about 4 to 5 meters high. Its green, long-stemmed stems are triangular in cross section and grow from thick underground stems. A cluster of dense, radial (like fireworks) leaves will grow at the top of each stem. The leaves are slender and usually bright green, and the length is about 10 to 30 cm. When the plants are still young, this cluster of leaves grows like a feather duster. Flowers are green-brown and grow at the end of leaf clusters. The fruit is brown. Underground stems are covered with a reddish-brown paper layer when they first grow, and this triangular scale layer also covers the base of the stems.
Papyrus grows in tropical to subtropical environment, whether it is wet forest or dry desert, as long as the annual average temperature is 20 to 30°C and the soil pH value is 6.0-8.5. The flowers of papyrus bloom in late summer and tend to bloom in full sunshine to semi-shady environment. Like many typical tropical plants, papyrus is sensitive to frost.
Papyrus is distributed all over the humid parts of Africa, such as swamps, shallow lakes and streams, but it has gradually become scarce in the Nile Delta. In deep water, papyrus is the main plant (called sudd) that constitutes vegetation. Today, its wild distribution exists in Congo, Madagascar, Uganda, Ethiopia and Sicily.
The feathery flowers of papyrus are the nesting sites of many social birds. Like many Cyperaceae plants, it is an anemophilous flower and its fruit is carried away by running water.
Today, papyrus is cultivated and improved as a decorative plant. Among them, C.nanus and C.profiler only grow to about 1 m high.
use
The ancient Egyptians used papyrus for many purposes. Among them, the most famous one should be the production of papyrus. In Greek and English, the etymology of the word "papyrus" is considered by many people to come from ancient Egyptian, but this is a myth. Papyrus is now widely used to make decorations, such as papyrus paintings. In ancient times, papyrus was widely distributed in the Nile Delta, but now its original population in the Nile Delta is on the verge of extinction. In the book History of Plants (Volume 10) by Theophrastus, it is written that papyrus is also distributed in Syria. According to Pliny Sr's NaturalisHistoria, papyrus is a native plant in the Nile and Euphrates rivers.
Cyperuspapyrus, taken in KewGardens, London. In addition, the ancient Egyptians used the flowers of many Cyperaceae plants to make wreaths for worship. And the shoots are used as food. Its fibrous underground stems are used to make bowls and other utensils, and sometimes as fuel. The stems are used to weave reed boats (in the reliefs of the fourth dynasty in Egypt, men in their prime are depicted collecting sedges to make reed boats), and similar boats can be found in Sudan. [Editor's paragraph] The papyrus ship is rich in papyrus in Egypt and the Middle East, and is famous in the archaeological field for its papyrus. A large number of ancient Egyptian documents are recorded on this paper and have been preserved to this day.
However, this humble plant has another great function that has been forgotten by the world. Thousands of years ago, the ancient Egyptians sailed on the Nile with the help of ships made of this plant, and it is very likely that they will reach further places and spread their great civilization.