Papyrus

Papyrus was used as a writing material by the ancient Egyptians. Over time parchment was developed but the Ancient Egyptians still used papyrus. It was also used to make sandals and other household objects. Egyptians wrote biographies, books, and drew pictures on papyrus scrolls.

The plant can grow 16 feet tall. Papyrus reeds grow next to the Nile River. Papyrus writing material is made by peeling the outer fiber off the stalk, the core is taken out, then the fibers are sliced up into strips. The strips are soaked in water for three days, then the sugar is removed.  The papyrus is flattened out and left to dry. Then the strips are attached to each other to make a sheet, which is then left under a slab of rock for six days to let the sugar seal the strips.

Nowadays we can see in museums examples of stuff that was written on papyrus sheets. One example is The Book of The Dead. A bunch of the other countries tried to copy the Egyptians. The Chinese made paper out of rags, the Europeans created parchment and paper, but the Egyptians still used the papyrus until paper became cheap.