Papyrus human genius

The ancient Egyptians wrote on many materials, including leather, wood, leaves, and stones. Still, papyrus was the material that was used in the first centuries of civilization until the early Middle Ages, and the first to use papyrus the ancient Egyptians and the inscriptions painted on Egyptian temples, which represent forms of this plant, and ships Which were made from its stems and whose drawings were left on the walls of the temple of Deir al-Bahari – and the pharaonic documents written on papyrus sheets in hieroglyphs, hieratic or demotic, which are the writings used in the ancient Egyptian language, all these are material evidence confirming Egypt’s knowledge of this plant since the dawn of time. (1)

Papyrus in Pharaonic times:

The ancient Egyptian excelled in agricultural industries such as papyrus, as he grew naturally around the streams of water in the swamps. It is of great importance in the life of the ancient Egyptian and made light boats from it to cross in the Nile as he made baskets, mats, ropes, and slippers from it. It was also used in building the hut. It used bundles of it to raise the ceiling, and it is the material that affected the Egyptians when he turned to build with stones as if they were bundles of papyrus. Egypt came to be famous for papyrus from the paper industry, and the ancient Egyptians used tons of papyrus in their dealings and graves, and huge quantities of it were exported to parts of the civilized world. It suffices to know that the minds of Athena scholars during the period of its prosperity were limited by the amount of papyrus estimated by Egypt. Egypt’s monopoly on this industry continued during the Ptolemaic and Roman eras (((Papyrus was used in Egypt from 9000 years BC to the ninth century AD) until the rule of paper began instead. From papyrus, papyrus was also used to record information and was not limited to that only, but was also used as layers in wrapping the dead, but at present papyrus is being produced for tourists () it was the core Rada played a major role in the Egyptian industries, as it was growing abundantly in every swamp. The papyrus plant used by the ancient Egyptians is equivalent to the bamboo plant in some other peoples. Where mats were made from it, ropes were wound, and slippers were prepared. Since it was the basic material for the writing newspapers of the Egyptians, the basic materials for writing newspapers in European languages ​​were called paper. However, they were of a type completely different from the Egyptian writing newspapers (), and it was the first roll found was empty From writing in the tomb of Hamakua. As for the first written scroll, it consisted of accounts of the king (Nefriar Karry) of the Fifth Dynasty (2400 BC) () and the most important place where it grew was the swamps of the Nile Delta, as it grew in great abundance along its course And in shallow places, especially in the Delta and Fayoum, however, it is now found only in the upper sources of the Nile in Abyssinia, in places scattered in the northern delta, Syria and Sicily. ()

This plant has 64 names, including the ancient Egyptians and Copts, and the ancient Greeks and Hebrews called it. Most of the names were mentioned in the references and dictionaries of the Arabic language.

Roman papyrus: –

From the Arab world to the rule of Greece in the first three centuries BC, as in the last quarter of the first century BC, the Roman Empire controlled Egypt, North Africa, Syria and Palestine, and during that period from the fourth century BC to the Arab conquest in the seventh century AD, the Egyptian papyrus preserved As a material for writing in the forefront among other writing materials in Egypt and Syria, and Egypt exported it to Greece and Italy, and even monopolized the process of preparing and manufacturing it – until other materials that were popularized by slavery even in Egypt itself if the price of papyrus gradually increased and the paper replaced it. It is known that the church manuscripts In Egypt during the first Christian era, it was mostly parchment and leather, not papyrus. However, papyrus was not completely replaced by slavery. The writing material of the rich layer continued until it gave place to modern paper later. It can be said that the papyrus papers are known to the world date back to the 4th century BC. M of the scrolls of this period are not rare, and their information is not acquired in addition and confirmation except the third century BC.

It is said that the Library of Alexandria contained nearly 50,000 scrolls of Greek papyrus. The Greek papyrus prepared books from it in the form of a scroll of 6 to 7 meters in length – and if the manuscript were folded, it would take the form of a cylinder with a diameter of 5 to 6 cm, which is easy to hold ().

It should be noted that the Greeks used a huge amount of papyrus, and then the Romans undoubtedly took from the Greeks the use of papyrus rolls as part of what they took from them from other methods of civilization.

Egypt still had a monopoly on papyrus making and exporting it to the outside world, especially the Roman Empire. Evidence indicates that some of the Delta swamps had individuals at the beginning of the Roman era, and some swamps in Faiyum were part of the empire’s estate.

The papyrus industry and trade continued to flourish until the seventh century AD. The Roman Empire relied on the Egyptian papyrus at that time heavily, not only for literary and scientific purposes, but for other purposes such as correspondence, contracts, and various legal documents – Pliny mentioned that the daily work in the empire’s departments had been disrupted and confused due to the scarcity and exaggeration of papyrus due to the lack of yield at one time.

Coptic era:

It was found in monasteries. Churches and scrolls were collected from them, where the first monastic groups were formed since the second century BC. After examining these manuscripts, it was possible to identify Christian and other texts dating back to the fifth century AD. But what remains of Coptic papyrus is very little, perhaps because of the persecution conditions that the Coptic Church suffered from the beginning of its reign under the rule of the Romans, and perhaps the poverty that the Coptic Church suffered from the beginning of its reign under the rule of the Romans, and perhaps the poverty of the first Coptic Christians and their inability to acquire papyrus, Its price was too high due to the government’s monopoly on its cultivation, industry and trade. () A monk wrote the first papyrus in the Arabic language in Islamic Egypt in the era of 22 AH when monks were spending their lives weaving and decorating ancient books.

Papyrus in Islamic times:

Especially in the early ages (the era of the ruler), there became governmental factories and private factories for papyrus from after, if it was the state’s monopoly in previous eras, such as the Ptolemaic era. These factories were in Alexandria, and if these factories bought the right to engage in this industry, the papyrus became again limited to The state after that. The reality is that papyrus production was not limited to using or exploiting it only for export, but rather the Egyptian scribes used it in his book manuscripts. The oldest book written on papyrus is the book of hadith by Abu Muhammad bin Abdullah. Bin Wahb was found in the city of Edfu, and there is no doubt that it was the work of the Muslim copyists. Those Islamic manuscripts and religious books proved that Muslims did not stand idly before other dhimmis and Copts. The Arabic papyrus that he collected and commented on by Adolf Grohman, which goes back to that. Al-Asr is one of the most important methods we discover about papyrus’s widespread use ().

The Arabic papyrus is one of the most important sources referred to in historical studies. They used it to write sales, purchase and marriage contracts and broadcast their solemn requests and official orders. The papyrus drawer was made in the papyrus houses, then people took it through trade, and it consisted of twenty sheets of paper attached, and the first of these papers was called the first paste)). Despite the importance of the papyrus, many historians of Islamic history do not care to study it, in addition to the fact that many of them do not know anything about the science of papyrus, and the orientalist Adolf Grohmann considers a large part of his scientific efforts to study papyrus papers. Indeed, papyrus because of its A matter in the study of political, economic and social life in the Islamic era, as it includes texts related to partiality, exclusion, assignment of positions, management systems, trade methods, building buildings and mosques, establishing fleets, prices of goods, homes and agricultural lands, as well as marriage contracts, buying and selling, and so on from correspondence. The truth is that these papyrus papers, in addition to their historical value as the original references, are distinguished by being contemporary even to the incidents they record and that they are neutral. They also fix some of the deficiencies caused by the bias of some Muslim historians about the history of the family under which they write. () Indeed, the papyrus is the historian who arrived. The year 323 AH ends at the beginning of the Ikhshidid era, while the documents written on paper begin their history 300 AH. The production of papyrus remained until the fall of the Tulunid state and the country’s return to the Abbasid state. At that time, the paper industry moved from China, and the production of papyrus stopped. The deterioration of the papyrus industry is due to The Ikhshidi era is due to the lack of foreign currencies imported into Egypt due to the lack of papyrus exports. All are types of leather, so parchment is what thinners the leather to write on. ()

And the dermis is the red or tanned skin, while the qadi is the white skin used in writing and shared papyrus and competes with other materials such as grass and carvings. The shoulders and ribs were also used in writing and meant the shoulders and ribs of camels and sheep and their ribs (1). The cloth is flat and flat, and the quilt is a type of white, delicate stone that some used to record many texts. Despite this, all of these materials did not reach the quality of papyrus, which is characterized by being light in load, soft and easy to handle, unlike other hard materials, such as various stones. Its types and luxuries, such as palm leaves and other things, made it difficult to preserve them, and this explains why Muslims used to exploit all the papyrus factories after the conquest and kept them on the craftsmen, and they were Copts (2).

Second – Linguistically papyrus plant:

Papyrus is the oldest material in his book globally, dating back to 2000-3000 BC. The year 1880 AD was discovered in the tombs of the Pharaohs in the form of papyrus scrolls known as the Book of the Dead. The ancient Egyptian intended to help him in his journey in the other world after death. () And after the papyrus plant, cyperus Papyrus limns one of the most famous natural plants in ancient Egypt (), and it is an aquatic plant that grows to the virtue of Cyperaceae, which grows in fresh swamps or saltwater and on the sides of canals, ponds, and very wetlands (). The papyrus plant has received dozens of names in various ancient and modern languages. Some of these names describe its different states during its cultivation and growth and when it becomes soft, and other names describe the places where this plant is grown. Names indicating the various uses and use such as writing, prescriptions, means of food preservation, etc.

In fact, the first to find names for this plant were the ancient Egyptians, then other names appeared in the Greek, Egyptian, Coptic, and then Arabic languages, and also we find that the word Paper in English, French, German and Spanish are all derived from the ancient Egyptian word Papyrus. An abbreviation; one of the most prominent of these names in some ancient languages, where we find that among these ancient names, modern terms were derived in the science of documents and libraries ()

(A) The names are given by the ancient Egyptians:

These names given by the ancient Egyptians can be divided into two parts:

1- First Section: –

They are names that describe the papyrus plant at its cultivation, growth and external appearance. The Egyptians gave it several names, one of the most common of which was the name “Mahit” and its synonyms, including also the name “H”, which means papyrus plant, its bushes, forests, and areas of its reproduction ().

In the swamps and rivers of the delta, on both sides of the river course and the streams of the canals, and covered with various other weeds, large areas of the valley delta and others, since prehistoric times () …

The Egyptians included the name of this plant in the name of the delta since the end of the fourth millennium BC at least, as it is a regional phenomenon that is becoming more and more pronounced in its regions. The names of al-Bardi varied, along with the name “Mahit” and “Ha”. It is a name that may be called for its plants and forest. It is most likely that the Egyptians considered the nature of greenery and its persistence in the dense forest of papyrus and its bushes as an advantage for this plant that distinguishes it from other plants whose stems dry up and their stems withered whenever the harvest season approaches. They called it “akh” () and one of it “my brother” “meaning green.” They added and named it and its benefits and areas of growth the names “Diet”, “Jet” and “Jet” ()

2- Section Two: –

These are names that the ancient Egyptians gave to papyrus after preparing it in the paper, including names describing its condition before the book on it, such as Shaw (SW) as well as the name (Jama), which was used to denote the papyrus prepared for use and writing. The word (Shafdu) was used to denote the papyrus rolls used in Writing ( ).

As for the name “Sufi” or “The”, which was given to this plant in the modern state, it has a wide connotation, and it means papyrus woodland and its many thickets that used to grow wild in the swamps of the delta. It was called pathos as it means what used to grow from a papyrus in private gardens. And in the thickets and orchards and on the edges of the ponds and artificial lakes in the temples and palaces of the kings and nobles along with the lotus flowers as it remains fresh throughout the days of the year and the word also means the energies of its flowers and fibres prepared for manufacturing (). This book was called the name of Gujarat, and this word is derived from this word ( Brmjat) which means between the book or the library in the hieroglyphic language. These are the most prominent names mentioned in the language of the ancient Egyptians to denote papyrus (). It is believed that he was one of the royal monopolies, so that his name that we know – Barada, is derived from the name (ba-per-ao), and its meaning belongs to the pharaoh ().

( – Names used for papyrus in the Greek language: –

Some historians of the Greek civilization, such as Theophrastus, Strabon and Herodotus, listed some names for this plant, including the name Papyrus, and we find that this word is the origin of the English word Papyrus Barada (now), and it is also the origin of the English word Paper (paper). And they also called it (Byblos). ) BiBlos and some researchers claim that the origin of the word Byblos, which the ancient Greeks gave to this type of plant, may have been adapted from the famous port in the city of Byblos, where this plant was exported after processing and converted to paper through this port to the Greeks. It is still called On this city to this day Byblos relative to this port. As for the word papers, some researchers mention that it is derived from an ancient Egyptian origin meaning (what belongs to the king) or the royal plant, and this means that this paper was the state’s monopoly at that time (). The Greek historian Herodotus praised the arrival of another name for the papyrus plant, which is daftray. This word was first used on the skin, which was used as a material for writing in the Greek islands before the papyrus scrolls (). It was derived from the word (daftray), the word notebook that we still use. Even today, in the Arabic language, as well as from the famous names that the Greeks gave to papyrus papers, the name (Kharz), and this word later turned into the word (Charta) in the Latin language, and this word was derived from Map ().

There is also the name “price”, and it is possible that it was mentioned in the Greek API, as well as the name “SNR” or “we will see” and “families” or “prisoners”. The last two names may be called the papyrus plant or the utility plants that resemble papyrus, such as the forest or reed ().

(C) – The names of papyrus in the Coptic language: –

The name Gomi is mentioned as papyrus, as is the name Gog. This name has two derivations, one of them in the Sahid dialect (Chun) Gon and the other derivation in the marine accent (GOM), as it is worth noting that there were two Coptic dialects in Egypt in the early days, namely the Sahid dialect and the Bahariya dialect. Marine.

There are other names given to the papyrus plant in the Coptic language, including the name Arbin, and also the name of Arribe was mentioned, and it is believed that it was derived from the previous name. Perhaps the Arabs took the name Papyrus from this term.

The texts of the Coptic language also included some names of the papyrus plant and its derivatives referring to it, such as the name bin and its derivatives THPBHIN Tepbain – tepyeein – tepbeein – tpbhin

It is a name that is difficult to return to its origin in the hieroglyphic language.

(D) – The names of papyrus in the Hebrew language: –

The name of papyrus was mentioned in the Hebrew language with the name of wool, which is derived from the word thof or those in ​​the ancient Egyptian language, and this word was applied to papyrus when it was dense in the form of jungles in the swamps of the Delta ().

(F) – The names of papyrus in the Arabic language: –

Papyrus appeared in many names in the Islamic era, including names given to it as a plant before it was made into paper, including names describing the situations that this plant passes through. It is not surprising that papyrus penetrated the various Islamic cities during the various conquests. It is noticed that papyrus was preferred over other writing materials because it is impossible to erase writing without destroying papyrus. Due to the multiplicity of names mentioned in the Arabic language for this type of plant, it has been divided into three main sections, which are:

(A) First Section:

It includes names given to plants and leaves together, meaning papyrus when it is a plant, then after making paper, and from these names “papyrus” sometimes it read “papyrus” by breaking the ba, sometimes by combining the “bad”. Also, papyrus was called “liberty” by opening the hamza and the ba; it was also called “Barada”, which is common today. This name was transferred to the Spanish language, so AL Bardin was pronounced thus. Then the colloquial language was uttered and pronounced in the city of Valencia, Spain, AL bordi. Also, it was deciphered in another form and pronounced on the island of Malta thus in the Bordi Bardi, and we find that it is called the papyrus because it puts from it the kind in which he was writing in the past.

( Section Two:

This section included many names, most of which describe the states of this plant that it has been through since its cultivation, growth and harvest. From these names, the name “Al-Qanfakhr” is expressed by the plant’s origin when planting it. The name “bed” is also mentioned, which is the lower part of the stem submerged in water. He is the one who connects the upper plant body to the creeping stem in the soil (rhizome) and notices that this part swells during the flowering season of the plant between the months of “June – July – August” and sometimes it was called “the bed” on the papyrus stalk.

Among the famous Arabic names that can be attributed to this section is the name: “Nakhk” (), and the naked is the origin of the papyrus and refers to the soft, soft part eaten in drought. It contains the papyrus plant if it grows long, there is also the name “al-Haddad” (), and it is used to indicate the state of the papyrus if it was broken and accumulated. As for the name “leaf weed -“ watering ”and one of it is watering and watering – because it was growing in water or close to it.

3- Section Three: –

This section includes names that the Arabs gave to papyrus after it became a paper. Among these names are Quotas, Quartus, and Quartus.

Some contemporary researchers mention that the word kurtas is derived from the Latin Greek word “chart”, which is a word derived from the Greek word “charts” .. then it was translated in the Arabic language to “map” and used to denote “map” until it later turned into “kurtas”, both of which are not It is still used today.

It is noticed that there is a name derived from this word “Charts” on the papyrus in the Islamic era – this name was mentioned in some scientific dictionaries and dictionaries in several terms: Kharrat, Kharrat, Kharati, Khari, and one of them is Kharata (). In its entirety, it states the meaning of the papyrus scroll used as writing material.