Papyrus: The Plant that Changed the World: From Ancient Egypt to Today's Water Wars

291 Pages·2015·4.53 MB·English

by  John Gaudet

PAPYRUS
The Plant that Changed the World—
From Ancient Egypt to Today’s Water Wars
JOHN GAUDET
Stone Age marsh men hunting in an ancient papyrus swamp in the Nile Valley, 5000 B.C.
To the millions of young people who will lead the way to the new world, a place where I hope swamps and
marshes will flourish and peace and harmony will prevail.
CONTENTS
Prologue Ancient Egypt and Papyrus, the Eternal Marriage
PART I
Ancient Heritage
1 First Encounter
2 Nature’s Bounty
3 Papyrus Boats, the Pride of Ancient Egypt
4 Rope, the Workhorse of Ancient Egypt
5 Papyrus Paper, in All the Offices of the World
PART II
When Swamps Are More than Just Wet Places
6 The Floating World
7 The Other Marsh Men, an African Perspective
8 Sacred Swamps and Temples of Immortality
9 The Field of Reeds as a Way of Life
10 Swamps Are the Future
11 Sarah Starts a War
12 The Revenge of the Sacred Sedge
PART III
Papyrus Swamps, the Last Frontier
13 The Congo, Economic Miracle or Pit of Despair
14 A Tragic Irony
15 The Battle for Lake Victoria
16 War Along the Nile
17 It Takes an Army to Save the Sudd
18 Blood Roses, Papyrus, and the New Scramble for Africa
19 The Zambezi, the Victorians, and Papyrus
20 An Unwanted Legacy
21 The Okavango, Miracle of the Kalahari
22 Papyrus Blooms Again in the Holy Land
23 The Rift Valley, a Safe Haven for Birds
24 The Egyptian Solution
25 2050, The New Delta
26 Conclusion
Further Reading
Acknowledgments
Endnotes
Index
Illustrations
MAPS
Map 1: Nile catchment, Sudd area, and Lake Victoria. p. 17
Map 2: Rain-fed savanna of archaic Egypt and the water-world. p. 21
Map 3: Major papyrus paper centers in ancient Egypt. p. 25
Map 4: The Jordan River, Huleh Valley, Huleh Swamp, and Lake Amik. p. 126
Map 5: The Congo River catchment, central wetlands, and sites of the Grand Inga Dam and Transaqua
Canal. p. 141
Map 6: Lake Naivasha 50 years ago. p. 192
Map 7: The general reduction of Lake Naivasha and change in wetlands and the towns. Since 2009, the
water level has come back up but the wetlands are gone. p. 194
Map 8: Major swamps of the Zambezi region. p. 213
Map 9: The Okavango Delta (based on NASA, FAO Aquastat 2005, and OKACOM). p. 231
Map 10: Jordan River, the Huleh Swamp, Lake Agmon, the new Reserve on the Jordan, and the Peace Park
on the Yarmouk River. p. 242
Map 11: Bird migration routes passing through the Huleh Valley (courtesy Y. Leshem). p. 247
PAPYRUS
Prologue
Ancient Egypt and Papyrus, the Eternal
Marriage
Where the Eastern waves strike the shore . . . or where the seven-mouthed Nile colors the waters,
. . . whatever the will of the heavens brings, ready now for anything . . .
—Catullus, 61–54 B.C.
A resource treasured by the kings of Egypt, a prince among plants, a giant
among sedges, and a gift of the Gods, the papyrus plant has been with us since
the dawn of civilization. It allowed Egypt to be papermaker to the world for
thousands of years and in doing so ruled the world in the same fashion that King
Cotton ruled the South, the demand being met exclusively by the papyrus
swamps of Egypt where it grew at a phenomenal rate.
Where did papyrus come from? To an early Egyptian this question was so
obvious he need not say a word; he could simply point to a relief or a statue of
Hapi, the god of the Nile inundation. This shows a seated, blue-colored, chubby
man with pendulous breasts, a Pharaoh’s fake beard, and a belly hanging over
his girdle. Bizarre, yes, but in a way not entirely foreign to some of us who are
entranced by that most impressive Hindu god, Krishna, who was blue-skinned,
said to be the maximum color in nature as in blue skies, oceans, lakes, and
rivers, thus an appropriate color for special people.