Papyrus

Ancient writing material, which was made from papyrus growing on river banks. Already at the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC in Egypt, it's marrow was cut into fine strips and the fibers laid horizontally next to each other ("recto"). A second layer was placed vertically ("verso") at right angles over it and the two layers of fiber were joined by tapping, pressing, and drying. The individual pieces were then polished and glued together to form long papyrus sheets; However, one could only write on the side with the fibers laid horizontally ("recto"). The end product was wound up and stored as a scroll, which the reader then had to unroll in columns. Although papyrus was replaced by parchment from the 2nd century, the papal chancery retained use of this ancient writing material until 1050.