Many ancient civilizations housed their scrolls in large libraries, which acted as both repositories of knowledge and displays of political and economic power. Because papyrus grew in Egypt, the Egyptians had a virtual monopoly over the papyrus trade. A standard scroll was around 30 feet long and 7 to 10 inches wide, while the longest Egyptian scroll ever found stretched over 133 feet, making it almost as long as the Statue of Liberty when it was rolled all the way out (Harry Ransom Center).īy the 6th century BCE, papyrus was the most common writing surface throughout the Mediterranean and was used by the Greeks and Romans. Individual sheets of papyrus were glued or sewn together to make scrolls. It was made using the tall reeds that grew plentifully in the Nile Valley. In many ways, papyrus was an ideal material for the Egyptians. Most prominent, though, was the practice of using reed pens to write on papyrus scrolls. From the time they first developed a written script, around 3000 BCE, Egyptians wrote on many different surfaces, including metal, leather, clay, stone, and bone. Most historians trace the origins of the book back to the ancient Egyptians, whose papyrus scrolls looked very different from the books we’re accustomed to today.
