Ancient Egypt
Elements of its Cultural History

  by Sjef Willockx

  
 


5. Papyrus: introduction

The genealogy of papyrus is at first sight a more straightforward affair than that of the lotuses. It brings us however to an entirely different part of the plant kingdom altogether: that of the Monocots - a section dominated by grasses. And grasses are anything but straightforward: they come in huge numbers of varieties that in many cases only an expert can tell apart.

Order: Cyperales. This order contains two families: the Poaceae (the grasses proper), and the Cyperaceae (the sedges).

Family: Cyperaceae. The family of the sedges: more than 70 genera, all in all some 5,000 species. (Encyclopedia Britannica: “grasslike herbaceous plants, found especially in wet regions throughout the world.”)

Genus: Cyperus, comprising some 650 species. One of these is:

§        Cyperus papyrus: also known as Papyrus.

The Encyclopedia Britannica describes papyrus as "a grass-like aquatic plant", with "woody, bluntly triangular stems". On its website, the university of California, Riverside, adds somewhat profanely: "...topped by mop-like head of thread-like parts". A bit disrespectful, but nevertheless quite accurate. The plant can get to about 4.5 meters high, and its stems can be 6 cm thick. It grows in quietly flowing water up to 1 meter deep.

The better known indoor potted plant is the dwarf papyrus (C. isocladus, or C. papyrus "Nanus"). It can become a bit taller than the 60 cm that the Encyclopedia Britannica gives: almost 1 meter.

Apart from the well known use for writing material (hence the modern word "paper"), the Egyptians made a variety of things from papyrus: matting, ropes, sails, rafts and small boats. The stalks were eaten too: either raw, or cooked.

For all its various uses, papyrus was never grown by the Egyptians. It was so abundant in the wild, that this was not necessary. Today however, papyrus no longer grows in the wild in Egypt.


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