Manufacturing & Use
How It's Made
A sheet of papyrus is made from the stem of the plant. The outer rind is first stripped off, and the sticky fibrous inner pith is cut lengthwise into thin strips of about 40 cm long. The strips are then placed side by side on a hard surface with their edges slightly overlapping, and then another layer of strips is laid on top at a right angle.
The strips may have been soaked in water long enough for decomposition to begin, perhaps increasing adhesion, but this is not certain. While still moist, the two layers are hammered together, mashing the layers into a single sheet. The sheet is then dried under pressure. After drying, the sheet of papyrus is polished with some rounded object, possibly a stone or seashell.
Early Manufacturing & Use
In the first centuries BC and AD, papyrus scrolls gained a rival as a writing surface in the form of parchment, which was prepared from animal skins. Sheets of parchment were folded to form quires from which book-form codices were fashioned. Early Christian writers soon adopted the codex form, and in the Græco-Roman world, it became common to cut sheets from papyrus rolls in order to form codices.
Codices were an improvement on the papyrus scroll as the papyrus was not flexible enough to fold without cracking and a long roll, or scroll, was required in order to create large volume texts. Papyrus had the advantage of being relatively cheap and easy to produce, but it was fragile and susceptible to both moisture and excessive dryness. Unless the papyrus was of good quality, the writing surface was irregular, and the range of media that could be used was also limited.
Modern Uses
Papyrus is still much used by communities living in the vicinity of swamps for other reasons, to the extent that rural householders derive up to 75% of their income from swamp goods and are most important for the poorer sectors of society. Particularly in East and Central Africa, people harvest papyrus, which is used to manufacture handcrafts that are sold or used by makers themselves. Examples include baskets, hats, fish traps, trays or winnowing mats and floor mats.
Papyrus is also used to make roofs, ceilings, rope and fences, or as fuel. Although increasingly, alternative fuel sources, such as eucalyptus, are available, the use of papyrus as fuel is still practised by a minority of residents, particularly those without land or beverage makers.