Papyrus Boats and the Beginning of Western Civilization

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The First Sail Boat

Today papyrus is recognized by many as just the paper sedge, the source of paper used for writing from 3300 BC until 900 AD, a span of almost four thousand years.   

     The Egyptian wasn’t alone in this discovery, however, from 6000 BC until the advent of the wooden boat in 3500 BC papyrus fulfilled another need, the reed boat, a vehicle that launched Egyptian civilization on that great internal highway called the Nile. 

     Throughout several river deltas in the arid world and the lake cultures in treeless high altitudes, reeds were used to build boats that made life easier for people who depended on boats for transportation of any significance.During this time the slim, ultra light, papyrus reed craft evolved, which became the sailboat, a craft that was very useful for going upriver from the delta using wind to carry it against the current. 

     The early sailboat was equipped with rigging made from papyrus rope, a sail made from finely made thin papyrus mats and a cabin or superstructure made from papyrus stems.  The only things not from the swamp were the wooden mast and the rock used for an anchor.  

     Of course all during those seven thousand years papyrus also provided a source of paper, a refuge for birds and a biological filter to control erosion and provide a natural balance on the Nile. 

     A plant for all ages, it still provides a bird refuge and pollution filter in Africa today.

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