Editing Cyperus papyrus (section)

==Papyrus in history==
{{Main|Papyrus}}
[[Image:Papyrus.jpg|thumb|300px|Papyrus paper]]
In Ancient Egypt, papyrus was used for various purposes such as baskets, sandals, blankets, medicine, incense, and boats. The woody root was used to make bowls and utensils, and was burned for fuel. The [[Papyrus Ebers]] refers to the use of soft papyrus tampons by Egyptian women in the 15th century BCE.<ref>[http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2252/who-invented-tampons Who invented tampons?] June 6, 2006 The Straight Dope</ref> Egyptians made efficient use of all parts of the plant. Papyrus was an important "gift of the Nile" which is still preserved and perpetuated in Egyptian culture.<ref>[http://egypt.mrdonn.org/papyrus.html], The Ancient Egypt website, retrieved on November 15, 2016.</ref>

Egyptians used the plant (which they called ''aaru'', or the subspecies ''C. p. papyrus'',<ref>https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:77168767-1</ref> which came very close to extinction, but was rediscovered in 1968.<ref>{{cite book |last=Day |first=David |title=Doomsday Book of Animals |date=1981 |publisher=Viking Press |location=New York |page=273}}</ref>) for many purposes, including for making papyrus paper. Its name has an uncertain origin, but was rendered in [[Hellenistic Greek]] as πάπυρος.<ref>{{cite web |title=Oxford English Dictionary |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/137234?redirectedFrom=papyrus#eid |access-date=16 October 2019 |publisher=OED}}</ref>

In the [[Nile Delta]], ''Cyperus papyrus'' was widely cultivated in ancient times. It is for example depicted on a restored [[stucco]] fragment from the palace of [[Amenhotep III]] near the present-day village of [[Malkata]]. Currently, only a small population remains in Egypt, in [[Wadi El Natrun]]. [[Theophrastus]]'s ''History of Plants'' (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in [[Syria]], and according to [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]'s ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Natural History]]'', it was also a native plant of the [[Niger River]] and the [[Euphrates]].<ref name="eb1911">{{Cite EB1911|wstitle=Papyrus|volume=20|pages=743–745|first=Edward Maunde|last=Thompson}}</ref> Neither the explorer [[Peter Forsskål]], an [[apostles of Linnaeus|apostle of Carl Linnaeus]], in the 18th century, nor the Napoleonic expedition saw it in the delta.

Aside from papyrus, several other members of the genus ''Cyperus'' may also have been involved in the multiple uses Egyptians found for the plant. Its flowering heads were linked to make garlands for the gods in gratitude. The pith of young shoots was eaten both cooked and raw.<ref name="eb1911" /> Its woody root made bowls and other utensils and was burned for fuel. From the stems were made [[reed boat]]s (seen in [[bas-relief]]s of the Fourth Dynasty showing men cutting papyrus to build a boat; similar boats are still made in southern [[Sudan]]), sails, mats, cloth, cordage, and sandals. Theophrastus states that King Antigonus made the rigging of his fleet of papyrus, an old practice illustrated by the ship's cable, wherewith the doors were fastened when Odysseus slew the suitors in his hall (''[[Odyssey]]'' xxi. 390).<ref name="eb1911" />

The adventurer [[Thor Heyerdahl]] had a boat built for him of papyrus, [[Thor Heyerdahl#Boats Ra and Ra II|''Ra'']], in an attempt to demonstrate that ancient African or Mediterranean people could have reached America. He was unsuccessful with this boat.

Fishermen in the [[Okavango Delta]] use small sections of the stem as floats for their nets.