A visit to a Papyrus Bazaar in Egypt

Papyrus is a plant (cyperus papyrus) which once grew in abundance on the banks of the Nile River in Eygpt. It grew to about 10 feet high.

Papyrus was harvested from the beginning of the Predynastic Period in Egypt (c. 6000-c.3150 BCE) NOTE: (BCE=before current era)

The earliest archaeological evidence found of written papyrus are documents in rolls that date from 2560–2550 BCE found on the Red Sea coast of Egypt.

So, for millenniums Man has used papyrus for a writing purpose; as a matter of fact the English word "paper" comes from the word "papyrus".

Ancient Egyptians had also many other uses for Papyrus; they used it as food; to make storage recipients as baskets and other containers; for homing needs as carpets, rugs, mats, blankets and window shades; for clothing and sandals; and with a working purpose, the Egyptians were probably the first civilization to develop special tools to make ropes of papyrus. These ropes pulled by thousands of workers allowed the Egyptians to move the heavy stones that we can see now on their pyramids, temples and other ancient monuments. Papyrus had also a religious impact and was woven to form the symbol of the ankh and offered to the gods as a gift.

I had the opportunity to visit a papyrus bazaar called New Pharaohs Papyrus (at 103 Haram St, Giza, Egypt) where a little workshop was given on how papyrus sheets were made and the paintings/writing techniques applied.

After all this information absorbed, it was hard not to fall in love with the Papyrus paintings sold there, and bought this one for myself :)
The characters on it are the god Osiris and goddesses Nephthys and Isis with a priestess.

NOTE: Real papyrus painted sheets are very different from imitations sold in Chinese Bazaars.