After 3000 BC, papyrus paper and papyrus rope became major export items, providing significant export earnings for thousands of years. The plant graced the design of amulets, mirrors and jewellery. Papyrus motifs adorned Pharaonic paintings, temples and tombs. “The 80-foot tall columns of Karnak based on papyrus stems or bundles of stems, and a temple plan that mimicked the reed shrines of old reveal how close papyrus was to their soul.” “Papyrus was deeply embedded in their culture, especially in their art and architecture,” Gaudet said. The papyrus bounty from the Nile delta provided not just paper for record keeping, however, but also food, fuel and boats. The plant’s quick growth rate was particularly helpful in ancient times, when people peeled its stem apart to make paper. It is one of the fastest growing plants on earth, which means it can be harvested twice a year. The largest member of the sedge family of plants, papyrus grows in mats over water where it forms a floating matrix strong enough to support huts, cattle and small villages, he said. In the book, he argues that the plant can help Egypt and other African countries overcome some of the most dangerous ecological and environmental problems of our times, including pollution. In his new book, “The Plant that Changed the World”, Gaudet outlines the history of papyrus and the future it faces. But in the centuries since, it has nearly disappeared.Įcologist John Gaudet, who calls the plant one of the “most valuable plants on earth”, has dedicated his life to studying papyrus and its different uses. The papyrus plant, considered sacred in ancient Egyptian culture, played a crucial role in Pharaonic civilisation. Ecologist John Gaudet, author of the new book, “The Plant that Changed the World”, which outlines papyrus’s past and future in Africa
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