Papyrus leaf from Egypt
Ancient Egypt - pharaohs, pyramids, papyrus
These are the three P-terms that immediately spring to mind when we think about the fabulous world of the Ancient Egyptians. The pharaohs' quest for immortality and to join the world of the gods led to the construction of the great pyramids that still fascinate us today. What is not so well known is that the small papyrus leaf was also used to wrap mummies, for example.
For this purpose, the papyri (plural of papyrus) were glued together to form entire cardboard boxes. And today, when the cardboard is removed, the old texts are still legible on the papyrus sheet. In the ancient world, the papyrus sheet was the most important writing material of all and fulfilled the same role as paper does today. The German word Papier goes back to the Latin word "papyrus", which is borrowed from the Greek "pápyros", which in turn is based on the reconstructed ancient Egyptian word "pa-en-per-aa", which roughly means: "that of the Pharaoh".
- Handmade papyrus for impressive documents
- Dimensions: approx. 15 x 10 cm, 9 sheets
- Material: stem pith of the papyrus plant
- Manufacture: Handmade in Egypt
- Special feature: naturally laid leaf edges
The papyrus leaf tells ancient history and conquers the modern world
Papyrus has been used as a writing material in Ancient Egypt since the 3rd millennium BC and remained the common writing material for letters and documents until the early Middle Ages. Although papyrus reacts very sensitively to moisture or mechanical stress, the material nevertheless has an astonishingly long shelf life and has provided archaeologists in particular with a great deal of valuable information. The most famous papyri scrolls are the Herculaneum papyri, which were preserved by massive layers of ash after the massive eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD and were only found by chance during later excavations.
More than 400,000 papyri from the ancient Egyptian Oxyrhynchus will once again bring many interesting things to light. The story of Cleopatra also shows us the importance of the papyri scrolls. For a very long time, she was unable to forgive Caesar for his soldiers setting the great, famous and devastating fire in the Library of Alexandria, which destroyed thousands of important papyrus scrolls. Caesar then had to promise to deliver to her library every newly discovered document from his conquered lands, which Caeser actually kept in return for the favor of this fascinating ruler.
Let your imagination run wild and surprise your loved ones and yourself with this simple yet fascinating wonder of nature and human ingenuity.
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