Papyrus is where we get the word “paper.” It is a writing material made from the papyrus plant, tall plant-like grass with a hollow stem that grows in the marshy areas around the Nile River (which runs south to north through eastern Africa, flows into Lake Victoria, and empties into the Mediterranean Sea). Although other African countries along the Nile may have grown the papyrus plant, ancient Egyptians widely used the plant in varying ways, e.g., making baskets, mats, rope, sandals, cloth, boxes, but their most lucrative and most known use was in making paper. It was made by highly skilled craftsmen working with a specifically cultivated strain of papyrus farmed to produce a high-quality writing material.  Ancient Egyptians used it as a writing material as early as 3,000 BC and exported it, making it a popular writing material, especially for ancient Greece and Rome.  Both papyrus and lotus plants were considered sacred by the ancient Egyptians, and they are often depicted in their art. Papyrus was also used for New Testament writings in the early centuries after the death of Jesus.

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Egypt’s Papyrus making industry has long since declined. Papyrus was eventually replaced with parchment, and then paper. As Egypt’s climate changed their large plantations where high-grade papyrus was cultivated for manufacturing it vanished, as did wild papyrus. Thus, today’s papyrus is not of the same high quality.  Its production is limited to few specialists who still opt to make papyrus, and its use is mostly limited to specialty writing materials by artists

and calligraphers.

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Source: https://apps.lib.umich.edu/papyrus_making/pm_intro.html