Because the museum I work in has a number of papyrus manuscripts, I felt the need to learn more about papyrus and the plant-to-writing-medium transformation. In answering my questions about what Cyperus papyrus is, and how it becomes a writing medium, this book earns five stars. In six hours (the time it took to read this slim book), you'll know everything you need to know about what papyrus is (a fresh-water marsh reed), how papyrus turns from reed to a glueless writing medium, plus many interesting facts about scribes, ink, linen, origin of the word, etc. Do you know how to 'erase' papyri documents? Or that probably only 0.3 to 5% of ancient Egyptians could read?

Read this book and you'll be able to decode when the colours black and red are used on Egyptian papyri (red was used for "highlighting phrases and marking distinctions" but was otherwise regarded as a very inauspicious colour--villains' names are written in red). And you'll meet Thoth, the ibis-headed god of knowledge, associated with the moon as lunar movements was the key to calculating time in ancient Egypt.

Is it a book for the layman? No. Is it a book for all lovers of Egyptian and ancient history? Absolutely. As well as anyone curious about the world's earliest writing medium (paper, invented by the Chinese, only replaced papyrus after the 8th century). I would recommend it for any adult interested in mummies, Egyptology, manuscripts, pens, ostraca, ancient gods, etc.... ( )

A very good concise introduction to the subject of papyri. Nicely illustrated. ( )