In the Egyptian language, papyrus was called wadj ( w3ḏ), tjufy ( ṯwfy), or djet ( ḏt).īill of sale for a donkey, papyrus 19.3 by 7.2 cm, MS Gr SM2223, Houghton Library, Harvard University Papyrus is also the etymon of 'paper', a similar substance. The more specific term βίβλος biblos, which finds its way into English in such words as 'bibliography', 'bibliophile', and 'bible', refers to the inner bark of the papyrus plant. The Greek writer Theophrastus, who flourished during the 4th century BCE, uses papyros when referring to the plant used as a foodstuff and byblos for the same plant when used for nonfood products, such as cordage, basketry, or writing surfaces. Greek has a second word for it, βύβλος ( byblos), said to derive from the name of the Phoenician city of Byblos. The English word "papyrus" derives, via Latin, from Greek πάπυρος ( papyros), a loanword of unknown (perhaps Pre-Greek) origin. The first publication has been credited to the British scholar Charles Wycliffe Goodwin (1817–1878), who published for the Cambridge Antiquarian Society, one of the Papyri Graecae Magicae V, translated into English with commentary in 1853. He wrote about the content of the Leyden papyrus, published in 1830. Scholarly investigations began with the Dutch historian Caspar Jacob Christiaan Reuvens (1793–1835). Until then, the only papyri known had been a few surviving from medieval times. The first modern discovery of papyri rolls was made at Herculaneum in 1752. Until the middle of the 19th century, only some isolated documents written on papyrus were known, and museums simply showed them as curiosities. Materials deemed unusable for writing or less than six digits were considered commercial quality and were pasted edge to edge to be used only for wrapping. Grades ranged from the superfine Augustan, which was produced in sheets of 13 digits (10 inches) wide, to the least expensive and most coarse, measuring six digits (four inches) wide. These were graded by quality based on how fine, firm, white, and smooth the writing surface was. Pliny the Elder and Isidore of Seville described six variations of papyrus which were sold in the Roman market of the day. Papyrus was made in several qualities and prices. By the 12th century, parchment and paper were in use in the Byzantine Empire, but papyrus was still an option. Its use in Egypt continued until it was replaced by less expensive paper introduced by the Islamic world who originally learned of it from the Chinese. The latest certain dates for the use of papyrus are 1057 for a papal decree (typically conservative, all papal bulls were on papyrus until 1022), under Pope Victor II, and 1087 for an Arabic document. Its last appearance in the Merovingian chancery is with a document of 692, though it was known in Gaul until the middle of the following century.
Papyrus was replaced in Europe by the cheaper, locally produced products parchment and vellum, of significantly higher durability in moist climates, though Henri Pirenne's connection of its disappearance with the Muslim conquest of Egypt between 639 and 646 CE is contested. Unless the papyrus was of perfect quality, the writing surface was irregular, and the range of media that could be used was also limited.
Papyrus had the advantage of being relatively cheap and easy to produce, but it was fragile and susceptible to both moisture and excessive dryness. Roman portraiture fresco of a young man with a papyrus scroll, from Herculaneum, 1st century ADĬodices were an improvement on the papyrus scroll, as the papyrus was not pliable enough to fold without cracking and a long roll, or scroll, was required to create large-volume texts.
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