Papyrus is a thin paper-like material made from the insides, or pith, of the papyrus plant. Papyrus is a swampland sedge, something like a rush. It grew all over the wetlands of the Nile, from Sudan to the Nile Delta.

Papyrus was being used as early as the very first pharaoh (king). Egyptians were more resourceful than just using the papyrus for paper, however, and they used bundles of the stems to make reed boats, mats, rope, sandals, and baskets.

Papyrus was made by pulling off the outer hard coat of the stem and then cutting the sticky fibrous inner pith into thin strips. While still moist, the layers were hammered together, crushing the layers into a single sheet. The sheet was then dried while keeping it under pressure of a plank of wood with stones on top. After drying, the sheet was polished by rubbing a stone over it. Papyrus is fairly brittle, so was used in sheets or made into rolls we know as scrolls.

By the first century BC, parchment (thin animal hide) was invented as a writing material and papyrus went out of fashion. Parchment would take more bending and could be folded and made into books.

Papyrus could never survive in damp climates, such as northern Europe, as it went soft, so it has always been a writing material of desert lands.