Papyrus was very important to the ancient Egyptians. It helped transform Egyptian society in many ways. Once the technology of papyrus making was developed, its method of production was kept secret allowing the Egyptians to have a monopoly on it. The first use of papyrus paper is believed to have been 4000 BC.

The raw material of papyrus paper comes from the plant Cyperus papyrus. This plant grew along the banks of the Nile and provided the Egyptians with the necessary raw materials. This plant was quite versatile and was not only used in the production of paper but it was also used in the manufacture of boats, rope and baskets. However, the singularly most important and valuable product was the papyrus paper.

Not only was this ancient Egypt’s greatest export but it revolutionized the way people kept valuable information. No substitution for papyrus paper could be found that was as durable and lightweight until the development of pulped paper by the Arabs. The way of making pulp paper was far easier to produce but not as durable.

This not only led to a decline in papyrus paper making, but also to a decline in the papyrus plant cultivation. Eventually, the papyrus plant disappeared from the area of the Nile, where it was once the lifeblood for ancient Egypt.

Papyrus making was not revived until around 1969. An Egyptian scientist named Dr. Hassan Ragab reintroduced the papyrus plant to Egypt and started a papyrus plantation near Cairo. He also had to research the method of production. Because the exact methods for making papyrus paper was such a secret, the ancient Egyptians left no written records as to the manufacturing process. Dr. Ragab finally figured out how it was done, and now papyrus making is back in Egypt after a very long absence.

The Method of Papyrus Paper Production

1- The stalks of the papyrus plant are harvested.

2- Next the green skin of the stalk is removed and the inner pith is taken out and cut into long strips. The strips are then pounded and soaked in water for 3 days until pliable.

3-The strips are then cut to the length desired and laid horizontally on a cotton sheet overlapping about 1 millimeter. Other strips are laid vertically over the horizontal strips resulting in the criss-cross pattern in papyrus paper. Another cotton sheet is placed on top.

4- The sheet is put in a press and squeezed together, with the cotton sheets being replaced until all the moisture is removed.

5- Finally, all the strips are pressed together forming a single sheet of papyrus paper.

Guide For Buying Papyrus Paintings on Ebay:

The Complete facts

As papyrus is a real unique work of art; people all over the world like it !!
Because of the great demand, it seems now that everyone is selling papyrus !!.

Go on to any search engine on the Internet or on eBay- look for the word papyrus, and you
will find many people trying to sell it. So;

How you choose from among the many sources available ?

The answer is :

You choose to buy the QUALITY and you will buy DIRECTLY from the source Egypt . I am sure that we Keep the best selling paintings for ourselves here in Cairo.

Please beware of what we call “pavement paintings or prints”. It’s nothing than banana leaves’ sheets sold by weight here in any pavement in Cairo Egypt. It’s far away from The true art of Egyptian papyrus !!

Speaking about quality, you must realize that Papyrus is a work of art , the plain
sheet is totally manufactured by hand, and the scenes are also hand-painted Not poor prints.
So one can find many different kinds of papyrus where the sheet itself is bad (many people use imitations like banana leaves !!) Or you can find poor prints executed by amateur artists or silk screen machines.

So don’t be far from The fact that These paintings you will buy from here on eBay will mount your wall at home or office for years to come. So you will never buy blur paintings or prints with these poor finish that it doens’t even deserve the cost of a new frame to hang it….

here is a picture illustration for making papyrus:

1 - The papyrus plant is cut from the beginning of it’s trunk after it reaches it full length.

2 - Then Trunk is cut into parts, sizes and length and width required.

3- The external green peel is removed of the trunk and the internal core of the trunk remains whcih is called spinal stem.

4 - The peeled is cut into slides of the same thickness and boiled in water.

5 - The Slices are lined side by side longitudinally Then another layer is placed on the first layer horizontally.

6- These two layers of slices are placed between two sheets of cloth or felt and pressed. ( please not there is no chimicals or other materials rather than papyrus is used here)

7 - The wet cloth is replaced by another dry one and pressed again. This final operation is repeated untill the papyrus sheets become completely dry. Now the Natural paper is ready for writing or drawing on it.

Good Luck and hope you got a benifit from this artical…. Sorry for my poor English. Please don’t forget to vote for the artical Thanks