Making Papyrus Paper

 

The papyrus stems are harvested, cut into lengths then peeled.



The exposed pith is then sliced into thin slices with a razor.



The strips are soaked and rolled several times*.



Laid out on a board in two layers one vertical and one horizontal, the strips form a mat or matrix.



This matrix is then placed between blotters and pressed for several days until dry.



Removed from the press the sheet is further dried then polished with polishing stone.



The final paper over a light reveals the two layers.



The sheets are then glued together to form a scroll.



The scribe now writes and draws hieroglyphs on the scroll using a reed pen or brush.

   (*Strips pre-cut and dried are cheap and easy to order from many sources in Egypt. Paper can be made from them as easily as from fresh cut stems, which is often hard to find outside of Egypt.)