Papyrus  

From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia

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Papyrus is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt.

Papyrus usually grow 2–3 meters (5–9 ft) tall. Papyrus is first known to have been used in ancient Egypt (at least as far back as the First dynasty), but it was also used throughout the Mediterranean region. Ancient Egypt used this plant for boats, mattresses, mats, rope, sandals, and baskets.

Collections of papyri

Turin Erotic Papyrus

• Amherst Papyri — This is a collection of Lord Amherst of Hackey. It includes biblical manuscripts, early church fragments, and classical documents from the Ptolemaic, Roman, and Byzantine eras. The collection was edited by Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt in 1900–1901. It is housed at the Pierpont Morgan Library (New York).
• Bodmer Papyri — This collection was purchased by Martin Bodmer in 1955–1956. Currently it is housed in the Bibliotheca Bodmeriana in Cologny. It includes Greek and Coptic documents, classical texts, biblical books, and writing of the early churches.
• Chester Beatty Papyri — collection of 11 codices acquired by Alfred Chester Beatty in 1930–1931 and 1935. It is housed at the Chester Beatty Library. The collection was edited by Frederic G. Kenyon.
• Colt Papyri — it is housed at the Pierpont Morgan Library (New York).
• The Herculaneum papyri — These papyri were found in Herculaneum in the eighteenth century, carbonized by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. After some tinkering, a method was found to unroll and to read them. Bulk of them are housed at the Naples National Archaeological Museum.
• Egerton Papyrus 2 — it is housed at the British Museum
• Martin Schøyen Collection — biblical manuscripts in Greek and Coptic, Dead Sea Scrolls, classical documents
• Michigan Papyrus Collection — this collection contains above 10 000 papyri fragments. It is housed at the University of Michigan.
• Oxyrhynchus Papyri — these numerous papyri fragments were discovered by Grenfell and Hunt in and around Oxyrhynchus. The publication of these papyri is still in progress.
• Princeton Papyri — it is housed at the Princeton University
• Rylands Papyri — this collection contains above 700 papyri, with 31 ostraca and 54 codices. It is housed at the John Rylands University Library
• Yale Papyrus Collection — numbers over six thousand inventoried items and is cataloged, digitally scanned, and accessible online for close study. It is housed at the Beinecke Library.

See also

• Pliny the Elder
• Papyrology
• Papyrus sanitary pad
• Palimpsest
• For Egyptian papyri:
  • List of ancient Egyptian papyri
• Other papyri:
  • Elephantine papyri
  • Magdalen papyrus
  • Nag Hammadi library
  • New Testament papyri
  • Strasbourg papyrus

• The papyrus plant in Egyptian art
  • Palmette

Other ancient writing materials:

• Palm leaf manuscript (India)
• Amate (Mesoamerica)
• Paper
• Ostracon
• Wax tablets
• Clay tablets
• Birch bark document
• Parchment