גמא, Exod. ii, 3; Job viii, 11; Isaiah xviii, 2; xxxv, 7.
When the outer skin, or bark, is taken off, there are several films, or
inner pellicles, one within another. These, when separated from the
stalk, were laid on a table artfully matched and flatted together, and
moistened with the water of the Nile, which, dissolving the glutinous
juices of the plant, caused them to adhere closely together. They were
afterward pressed, and then dried in the sun, and thus were prepared
sheets or leaves for writing upon in characters marked by a coloured
liquid passing through a hollow reed. The best papyrus was called
ἱερατικὴ, or paper of the priests. On this the sacred documents of Egypt
were written. Ancient books were written on papyrus, and those of the
New Testament among the rest. In the fourth century however these sacred
writings are found on skins. This was preferred for durability; and many
decayed copies of the New Testament, belonging to libraries, were early
transferred to parchment. Finally came paper, the name of which was
taken from the Egyptian reed; but the materials of which it was
fabricated were cotton and linen. See BULRUSH and BOOK.
When the outer skin, or bark, is taken off, there are several films, or
inner pellicles, one within another. These, when separated from the
stalk, were laid on a table artfully matched and flatted together, and
moistened with the water of the Nile, which, dissolving the glutinous
juices of the plant, caused them to adhere closely together. They were
afterward pressed, and then dried in the sun, and thus were prepared
sheets or leaves for writing upon in characters marked by a coloured
liquid passing through a hollow reed. The best papyrus was called
ἱερατικὴ, or paper of the priests. On this the sacred documents of Egypt
were written. Ancient books were written on papyrus, and those of the
New Testament among the rest. In the fourth century however these sacred
writings are found on skins. This was preferred for durability; and many
decayed copies of the New Testament, belonging to libraries, were early
transferred to parchment. Finally came paper, the name of which was
taken from the Egyptian reed; but the materials of which it was
fabricated were cotton and linen. See BULRUSH and BOOK.