Re:Saharan Village Is Home to Thousands of Ancient Texts
by jacobolus on Friday August 16, 2019 @06:05PM
(#20720167)
The material used in the Kingdom of Kush or at the Library of Alexandria (or whatever) is 100% irrelevant to this discussion.
It seems unlikely to me that there was ever any significant number of papyrus books in the western end of the Sahara desert, since as far as I understand the papyrus plant doesn’t grow anywhere within 2500 miles.
Some kind of parchment would be the obvious local material to use.
But apparently there started to be trade in paper (another non-local material) starting about 1000 years ago.
It seems unlikely to me that there was ever any significant number of papyrus books in the western end of the Sahara desert, since as far as I understand the papyrus plant doesn’t grow anywhere within 2500 miles.
Some kind of parchment would be the obvious local material to use.
But apparently there started to be trade in paper (another non-local material) starting about 1000 years ago.