Such rolls, but one and a half inches in diameter, ran from fourteen to twenty feet in length, and for everyday use rarely exceeded thirty feet.
The height and width of these sheets varied from six to eighteen inches, and usually twenty such sheets were pasted together to make a roll, which was fastened to a thin stick. The finished product was soft and flexible and obtainable in various sizes and grades of quality. The sheet was made smooth with pumice and polished with ivory or shells. The two layers were glued together and then the strips were beaten with a mallet and dried in the sun. The pith was sliced very thin and strips were placed alongside each other vertically, and on these another layer was laid at right angles or horizontally. By the Greeks it was called biblos, which was the name given to scrolls of papyrus, and from which we get the name “Bible.” It also became the name of the Phoenician city that was a center of the papyrus industry, Byblos.- Gal. 18:2.įor writing material the soft center or pith was used. In fact, its manufacture was at one time Egypt’s chief industry.- Ex. But its chief and most profitable use was for writing material. The babe Moses was placed in an ark or chest made of it. It served for fuel, for the making of boats, sails, rope, mats and sandals. The ancient Egyptians found many uses for papyrus. Papyrus is a writing material made from the water plant by the same name, which name means “product of the river.” It had a root the size of a man’s wrist that grew along the bottom of the shallow waters of the Nile, in about three feet of water, and sent up shoots that grew six or more feet high.- Job 8:11. The English word “paper” comes from papyrus. Bible lovers in particular are interested in papyrus, as it appears that the Christian Greek Scriptures were originally written on papyrus, copyists of these Scriptures making common use of papyrus down to the seventh century A.D. Its use goes back two thousand years or more before Christ, and some persons continued to manufacture it up until the beginning of this twentieth century. Known as ostraca, they are a boon to archaeologists.Īmong all these writing materials perhaps none has been used as long as papyrus. In particular did the poor of ancient times use potsherds, that is, broken pieces of clay pots, which could be found in any rubbish heap and which had a smooth surface on which to write. Among the many things used for writing in times past before paper became common were stone, clay, potsherds, metals, wood, bark, leaves, leather, papyrus, vellum (calfskin) and parchment (sheepskin). MATERIAL to write on was not always as plentiful and as cheap as paper is today, when one can buy a notebook in exchange for some small change.
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