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PAPYRUS
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PAPYRUS , the See also:paper See also:reed, the Cyperus Papyrus of See also:Linnaeus,
some See also:Malay See also:influence.
Papuan weapons are the See also:bow and arrow (in the See also:Fly See also:River region, the See also:north and north-See also:east coasts) ; a See also:beheading See also:knife of a See also:sharp seg-Weapons. ment of See also:bamboo; a shafted See also: The See also:conch-shell is the See also:trumpet of alarm and See also:call to arms. The See also:vendetta—resulting, when successful, in the bringing back the See also:head of the slain as a See also:trophy to be set up as a See also:house See also:ornament—is widely practised. The eastern tribes salute by squeezing simultaneously the See also:nose and See also:stomach, and both there and on the north coast friendship is ratified by sacrificing a See also:dog. In other places they See also:wave See also:green branches, and on the See also:south coast, pour See also:water over their heads, a See also:custom noticed by See also:Cook at Mallicolo (New See also:Hebrides). Among other pets they keep little pigs, which the See also:women suckle. The Papuan numerals extend usually to 5 only. In See also:Astrolabe See also:Bay the limit is 6; with the more degraded tribes it is 3, or, as in Torres straits, they have names only for 1 and 2; 3 is 2+1. See also:Language.—The Papuan See also:languages or dialects are very numerous, owing, doubtless, to the perpetual intertribal hostility which has fostered See also:isolation. In grammatical structure there is considerable resemblance between these dialects, but the verbal See also:differences have become See also:great. Several dialects are sometimes found on one island. The following are some broad characteristics of the Papuan it seems hardly credible that the Cyperus papyrus could have sufficed for the many uses to which it is said to have been applied and we may conclude that several See also:plants of the genus Cyperus were comprehended under the head of byblus or papyrus—an See also:opinion which is supported by the words of See also:Strabo, who mentions both inferior and See also:superior qualities. The Cyperus dives is still grown in See also:Egypt, and is used to this See also:day for many of the purposes named by See also:ancient writers. The widespread use throughout the ancient See also:world of the See also:writing material manufactured from the papyrus plant is attested by See also:early writers, and by documents and sculptures. Papyrus rolls are represented in ancient See also:Egyptian See also:wall-paintings; and extant examples of the rolls themselves are sufficiently numerous. The most ancient Egyptian papyrus now known
contains accounts of the reign of See also: An inscription relating to the rebuilding of the See also:Erechtheum in 407 B.C. records the See also:purchase of two papyrus rolls, to be used for the See also:fair copy of the rough accounts. The very large number of classical and other See also:Greek papyri, of the Ptolemaic and later periods, which have been recovered in Egypt, are noticed in the See also:article on See also:PALAEOGRAPHY. The rolls found in the ruins of See also:Herculaneum contain generally the less interesting See also:works of writers of the Epicurean school. Papyrus also made its way into See also:Italy, but at how early a See also:period there is nothing to show. It may be presumed, however, that from the very first it was employed as the vehicle for See also:Roman literature. Under the See also:Empire its use must have been extensive, for not only was it required for the See also:production of books, but it was universally employed for domestic purposes, See also:correspondence and legal documents. So indispensable did itbecome that it is reported that in the reign of Tiberius, owing to the scarcity and dearness of the material caused by a failure of the papyrus See also:crop, there was a danger of the See also:ordinary business of See also:life being deranged (See also:Pliny, N.H. xiii. 13). The See also:account which Pliny (N.H. xiii. 1r–i3) has transmitted to us of the manufacture of the writing material from the papyrus plant should be taken strictly to refer to the See also:process followed in his own See also:time; but, with some differences in details, the same See also:general method of treatment had doubtlessly been practised from time immemorial. His See also:text, however, is so confused, both from obscurity of See also:style and from corruptions in the See also:MSS., that there is much difference of opinion as to the meaning of many words and phrases employed in his narrative, and their application in particular points of detail. In one important particular, however, affecting the See also:primary construction of the material, there can no longer be any doubt. The old See also:idea that it was made from layers or pellicules growing between the rind and a central stalk has been abandoned, as it has been proved that the plant, like other reeds, contains only a cellular pith within the rind. The See also:stem was in fact cut into See also:longitudinal strips for the purpose of being converted into the writing material, those from the centre of the plant being the broadest and most valuable. The strips (inae, philyrae), which were cut with a sharp knife or some such See also:instrument, were laid on a See also:board See also:side by side to the required width, thus forming a layer (scheda), across which another layer of shorter strips was laid at right angles. The two layers thus " See also:woven "—Pliny uses the word texere in de-scribing this See also:part of the process—formed a See also:sheet (plagula or See also:net), which was then soaked in water of the See also:Nile. The mention of a particular water has caused trouble to the commentators. Some have supposed that certain chemical properties of which the Nile water was possessed acted as a See also:glue or See also:cement to cause the two layers to adhere; others, with more See also:reason, that glutinous See also:matter contained in the material itself was solved by the See also:action of water, whether from the Nile or any other source; and others again read in Pliny's words an implication that a See also:paste was actually used. The sheet was finally hammered and dried in the See also:sun. Any roughness was levelled by polishing with See also:ivory or a smooth shell. But the material was also subject to other defects, such as moisture lurking between the layers, which might be detected by strokes of the See also:mallet; spots or stains; and spongy strips (taeniae), in which the See also:ink would run and spoil the sheet. When such faults occurred, the papyrus must be re-made. To See also:form a See also:roll the several sheets KoXX,,cra, were joined together with paste (glue being too hard), but not more than twenty sheets in a roll (scapus). As, however, there are still extant rolls consisting of more than the prescribed number of sheets, either the See also:reading of vicenae is corrupt, or the number was not See also:constant in all times. The scapus seems to have been a See also:standard length of papyrus, as sold by the stationers. The best sheet formed the first or outside sheet of the roll, and the others were joined on in See also:order of quality, so that the worst sheets were in the centre of the roll. This arrangement was adopted, not for the purpose of fraudulently selling See also:bad material under See also:cover of the better exterior, but in order that the outside of the roll should be composed of that which would best stand See also:wear and See also:tear. Besides, in See also:case of the entire roll not being filled with the text, the unused and inferior sheets at the end could be better spared, and so might be cut off. The different kinds of papyrus writing material and their dimen- sions are also enumerated by Pliny. The best quality, formed from the See also:middle and broadest strips of the plant, was originally named hieratica, but afterwards, in flattery of the See also:emperor See also:Augustus, it was called, after him, See also:Augusta; and the charta Livia, or second quality, was so named in See also:honour of his wife. The hieratica thus descended to the third See also:rank. The first two were 13 digiti, or about 91 in. in width; the hieratica, ii digiti or 8 in. Next came the charta amphitheatrica, named after the See also:principal See also:place of its manu- facture, the See also:amphitheatre of See also:Alexandria, of 9 digiti or 61 in. wide. The charta Fanniana appears to have been a See also:kind of papyrus worked up from the amphitheatrica, which by flattening and other methods was increased in width by an See also:inch, in the factory of a certain Fannius at See also:Rome. The Saitica, which took its name from the See also:city of See also:Sais, and was probably of 8 digiti or 58 in., was of a See also:common description. The Taeniotica, named apparently from the place of its manufacture, a See also:tongue of See also:land (rawta) near Alex- See also:andria, was sold by See also:weight, and was of uncertain width, perhaps from 41 to 5 in. And lastly there was the common packing-paper, the charta emporetica, of 6 digiti or 41 in. Isidore (Etymol. vi. ro) mentions yet another kind, the Corneliana, first made under C. See also:Cornelius See also:Gallus, See also:prefect of Egypt, which, however, may have been the same as the amphitheatrica or Fanniana. The name of the man who had incurred the anger of Augustus may have been suppressed by the same influence that expunged the See also:episode of Gallus from the See also:Fourth Georgic (Birt, Antik. Buchwesen, p. 250). In the reign of the emperor See also:Claudius also another kind was intro- duced and entitled Claudia. It had been found by experience that the charta Augusta was, from its fineness and porous nature, See also:ill suited for literary use; it was accordingly reserved for correspon- dence only, and for other purposes was replaced by the new paper. zo The charta Claudia was made from a See also:composition of the first and second qualities, the Augusta and the Livia, a layer of the former being backed with one of the latter ; and the sheet was increased to nearly a See also:foot in width. The largest of all, however, was the macrocollon, probably of See also:good quality and equal to the hieratic, and a cubit or nearly 18 in. wide. It was used by See also:Cicero (Ep. ad See also:Attic. xiii. 25; xvi. 3). The width, however, proved inconvenient, and the broad sheet was liable to injury by tearing. An examination of extant papyri has had the result of proving that sheets of large See also:size, measuring about 12 in., were sometimes used. A large class of examples run to 10 in., others to 8 in., while the smaller sizes range from 4 to 6 in. An interesting question arises as to the accuracy of the different measurements given by Pliny. His figures regarding the width of the different kinds of papyri have generally been understood to concern the width (or height) of the rolls, as distinguished from their length. It has, however, been observed that in practice the width of extant rolls does not See also:tally in any satisfactory degree with Pliny's measurements; and a more plausible explanation has been offered (Birt, Antik. Buchwesen, pp. 251 seq.) that the breadth (not height) of the individual sheets of which the rolls are composed is referred to. The first sheet of a roll was named lrparr6KOXXov; the last, &rXaroKbXXwv. Under the See also:Romans, the former See also:bore the name of the comes largitionum, who had See also:control of the manufacture, with the date and name of place. It was the practice to cut away the portion thus marked; but in case of legal documents this See also:mutilation was forbidden by the See also:laws of Justinian. On the Arab See also:conquest of Egypt in the 7th century, the manufacture was continued, and the protocols were marked at first, as it appears, with See also:inscriptions in both Greek and Arabic, and later in the latter language alone. There are several examples extant, some being in the British Museum, ranging between the years 67o and 715 (see facsimiles in C. H. See also:Becker, Papyri Schott-Reinhardt, i. (See also:Heidelberg, 1906); and cf. " Arabische Papyri See also:des Aphroditofundes," in Zeitsch. See also:fur Assyriologie, xx. (1906), 68–104. The Arab inscriptions are accompanied by curious scrawls on each side, which may be imitated from words used in the Latin inscriptions of the Roman period.
Papyrus was cultivated and manufactured for writing material by the See also:Arabs in Egypt down to the time when the growing See also:industry of paper in the 8th and 9th centuries rendered it no longer a See also:necessity (see PAPER). It seems to have entirely given place to paper in the See also:roth century. See also:Varro's statement, repeated by Pliny, that papyrus was first made in See also: At Rome there was certainly some kind of industry in papyrus, the charta Fanniana, already referred to, being an instance in See also:illustration. But it seems probable that this industry was confined to the re-making of material imported into Italy, as in the case of the charta Claudia. This second manufacture, however, is thought to have been detrimental to the papyrus, as it would then have been in a dried See also:condition requiring artificial See also:aids, such as a more liberal use of See also:gum or paste, in the process. The more brittle condition of the Latin papyri found at Herculaneum has been instanced as the evil result of this re-making of the material. As to cultivation of the plant in See also:Europe, according to Strabo the Romans obtained the papyrus plant from See also:Lake See also:Trasimene and other lakes of See also:Etruria, but this statement is unsupported by any other ancient authority. At a later period, however, a papyrus was cultivated in See also:Sicily, which has been identified by Parlatore with the Syrian variety (Cyperus syriacus), far exceeding in height the Egyptian plant, and having a more drooping head. It See also:grew in the east and south of the island, where it was introduced during the Arab occupation. It was seen in the loth century, by the Arab traveller See also:Ibn-Haukal, in the neighbourhood of See also:Palermo, where it throve luxuriantly in the pools of the Papireto, a stream to which it See also:lent its name. From it paper was made for the See also:sultan's use. But in the 13th century it began to fail, and in 1591 the drying up of the Papireto caused the extinction of the plant in that district. It is still to be seen at See also:Syracuse, but it was probably transplanted thither at a later time, and reared only as a curiosity, as there•is no See also:notice of it to be found previous to 1674. It is with this Syracusan plant that some attempts have been made in See also:modern times to manufacture a writing material similar to ancient papyrus. Even after the introduction of vellum as the ordinary vehicle for literature papyrus still continued to some extent in use outside Egypt, and was not entirely superseded until a See also:late date. It ceased, however, to be used for books sooner than for documents. In the 5th century St See also:Augustine apologizes for sending a See also:letter written on vellum instead of the more usual substance, papyrus (Ep. xv.); and See also:Cassiodorus (Varr. xi. 38), writing in the 6th century, indulges in a high-flown See also:panegyric on the plant and its value. Of See also:medieval literary Greek papyri very few See also:relics have survived, but of documents coming down to the 8th and 9th centuries an increasing number is being brought to See also:light among the discoveries in Egypt.
Medieval Latin MSS. on papyrus in See also:book form are still extant in different See also:libraries of Europe, viz.: the Homilies of St Avitus; of the 6th century, at Paris; Sermons and Epistles of St Augustine, of the 6th or 7th century, at Paris and See also:Geneva; works of Hilary, of the 6th century, at See also:Vienna; fragments of the Digests, of the 6th century, at Pommersfeld; the Antiquities of See also:Josephus, of the 7th century, at See also:Milan; Isidore, De contemptu munch, of the 7th century, at St See also:Gall; and the See also:Register of the See also: 5). Of the Merovingian period there are still extant several papyrus deeds, the earliest of the year 625, the latest of 692. Under See also:Charlemagne and his successors it was not used. By the 12th century the manufacture of papyrus had entirely ceased, as appears from a See also:note by See also:Eustathius in his commentary on the Odyssey, xxi. 39o. AuTHORITIES.—Melch. Guilandino's commentary on the chapters of Pliny relating to papyrus, Papyrus, hoc est commentarius, &e. (See also:Venice, 1572) ; See also:Montfaucon, " Dissertation sur la Plante appellee Papyrus," in the Memoires de l'academie des inscriptions (1729), pp. 592–608; T. C. Tychsen, " De chartae papyraceae in See also:Europa per See also:medium aevum usu," in the Comment. See also:Soc. Reg. Scient. Gottingensis (1820), pp. 141—208; Dureau de la Malle, " M6moire sur le papyrus," in the Mem. de l'institut (1851), pp. 14o-183; P. Parlatore, M6moire sur le papyrus des anciens," in the Mem. a l'acad. des sciences (1854), pp. 469–502; Blumner, Technologie and Terminologie der Gewerbe and Kunste bei Griechen and Romern, i. 308–327 (See also:Leipzig, 1875) ; C. See also:Paoli, Del Papiro (See also:Florence, 1878) ; G. Cosentino, " La Carta di papiro," in Archivio storico siciliano (1889), pp. 134-164. See also W. See also:Wattenbach, Das Schriftwesen See also:im Mittelalter (Leipzig, I896); T. Birt, Das antike Buchwesen (See also:Berlin, 1882); F. G. See also:Kenyon, The Palaeography of Greek Papyri (See also:Oxford, 1899); and W. See also:Schubart, Das See also:Buch bei den Griechen and Romern (Berlin, 1907). (E. M. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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