Write on the clay tablets

Write on the stone

Write on the bamboo card

Write on the turtle shell

Write on the kettledrum

Write on the paper

Papyrus

Five thousand years ago, there was no paper. People used to write on.clay tablets

Clay: thick, heavy soil that is soft when wet and hard when dry

Tablet: a thin, flat, often square piece of hard material such as: wood, stone or metal

They used a reed to write on the wet clay. Then they waited for the clay to dry.

The tablets were very heavy. They were easy to break. People used each tablets only one time.

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reed

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The Ancient Egyptians wanted to make paper to write on.

Three thousand years ago, there were lots of papyrus plants in Egypt.

The Ancient Egyptians used papyrus to make a kind of paper.

It was difficult to make, but it was soft and light and easy to write on.

This armchair is soft. This chair is hard.

Papyrus plants

Papyrus

How to make papyrus

1. Obtain a papyrus plant. How to make papyrus

2. Peel away the outer rind of the papyrus plant. 3.Cut up the remaining inner papyrus plant layers (pith) into thin strips. 

4.Place the papyrus plant strips (pith) in a bowl of water. 

5.Lay the papyrus plant strips (pith) on a hard, flat surface.

6. Lay the strips on the cloth. 

7.Cover the papyrus strips with a second sheet of linen cloth.

8.Place the bundle between 2 wooden boards and press together. 

9.Use the rolling pin to flatten out the papyrus sheet a few times once it has finished drying. 

People in other countries started too use papyrus, too. But papyrus was very expensive. Only rich people

used it. Sometimes people used the papyrus, then washed it and used it again.

Read again and write.

heavy light expensive soft easy difficult

1. Clay tablets were …………………………… .

2. Clay tablets were …………………….to break.

3. Papyrus was very ………………….to make.

4. Papyrus wasn’t heavy. It was ……………… .

5. Papyrus was …………….. . It was easy to write on6. Only rich people used papyrus. It was ………….. .

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