Pith from inside the plant’s stem was cut into long strips that were laid side by side. Manufacturing sheets of papyrus from papyrus sedge was a complex, messy process. It was harvested from shallow water and swamplands on the banks of the River Nile. The papyrus sedge is a tall grass-like plant. Papyrus is strongly associated with Egyptian culture, although all the ancient civilizations around the Mediterranean used it.
Sheets of papyrus not only provide an invaluable record of people’s daily lives, they can also be dated using carbon-dating techniques, giving precise information about the age of the text written on them.ī. In western culture, the adoption of papyrus was to have a great impact. Other cultures used more flexible but less permanent surfaces, including animal skins and wood strips. About 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians started to use reeds or sticks to make marks on mud blocks which were then baked, but despite being fireproof, these were difficult to store. And written documentation carries enormous cultural importance: consider the consequences of signing the Foundation Document of the United Nations or the Convention on Biological Diversity.ĭocumentation requires a writing tool and a surface upon which to record the information permanently. At a personal level, our lives are governed by the documents we possess we are certified on paper literally from birth to death. Bureaucracies have become the backbone of civilizations, as governments try to keep track of populations, business transactions and taxes. Libraries and archives are cultural crossroads of knowledge exchange, where the past transmits information to the present, and where the present has the opportunity to inform the future. Used by the ancient Egyptians to make paper, the papyrus plant has helped to shape the world we live inĪ.
Vii The preservation and destruction of papyrus documents V How papyrus was cultivated and different manufacturing methods Iv Suggestions for future possibilities for papyrus Iii The use of papyrus for a range of purposes Ii The importance of written records and different ways of recording them I Solving the puzzle of a papyrus document Write the correct number i-viii in boxes 28-32 on your answer sheet. Choose the correct heading for each section from the list of headings below.
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