How To Make Papyrus Paper - A Guide For Kids

Papyrus paper was an ancient form of paper, made from Papyrus plants, used by the Ancient Egyptians. But how exactly do you make paper from the papyrus plant then?

I’m glad you asked, here’s a step-by-step guide for you:

How To Make Papyrus Paper

Step 1:

Use a sharp blade to chop down the papyrus plant, chopping at the base of the plant.

Egyptian workers slice up the papyrus stalks to get to the pith - Courtesy Rogers Fund

Step 2:

Slice up the stalk of the plant and cut out the fibrous parts from the inside, called the pith.

Step 3:

Beat the pith with a hammer to make thin strips or “wafers”.

Step 4:

Place a number of these thin papyrus strips side by side vertically.

Step 5:

Wet these strips with a solution of resin from the plant.

Can you spot the vertical and horizontal layers of papyrus strips? - Photo courtesy Joanna Hill

Step 6:

Place another set of thin papyrus strips side by side on top. But this time, place them horizontally across all of the strips in the first layer.

Step 7:

Press or hammer the two layers together and leave to dry in the sun. The wet strips and resin form a type of glue that sticks both layers together.

Step 8:

If you want a longer roll of papyrus, you can use a similar technique to that described above to stick two pieces of papyrus paper together at the edges.

Now you have a roll of papyrus paper to start writing on! Now you just have to learn how to write Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, but don't worry, we've got a guide for that here.

Find out more about Egyptian Papyrus Paper here.