was a
tall smooth reed of a triangular shape. It grew to the height of ten or
fifteen feet, and terminated in a tuft or plume of leaves and flowers.
Though indigenous in the country, it was the subject of careful
cultivation, and was grown in irrigated ground, or in such lands as were
naturally marshy. The root of the plant was eaten, while from its stem
was made the famous Egyptian paper. The manufacture of the papyrus was
as follows; The outer rind having been removed, there was exposed a
laminated interior, consisting of a number of successive layers of inner
cuticle, generally about twenty. These were carefully separated from
one another by the point of a needle, and thus were obtained a number
of strips of the raw material, which were then arranged in rows, covered
with a paste, and crossed at right angles by another set of strips
placed over them, after which the whole was converted into paper by
means of a strong pressure. A papyrus roll was made by uniting together
a greater or less number of such sheets. The best paper was made
from the inmost layers of cuticle. The outer rind of the papyrus was
converted into ropes; and this fabric was found to be peculiarly adapted
for immersion in water.

The mineral treasures of the Empire were various and abundant. It has
been noticed already that Persia Proper, if we include in it Carmania,
possessed mines of gold, silver, copper, iron, red lead, orpiment, and
salt, yielding also bitumen, naphtha, sulphur, and most probably common
lead. We are further informed by ancient writers that Drangiana, or
Sarangia, furnished the rare and valuable mineral tin, without which
copper could not be hardened into bronze; that Armenia yielded emery, so
necessary for the working and polishing of gems; that the mountains
and mines of the Empire supplied almost all the varieties of useful and
precious stones; and that thus there was scarcely a mineral known to and
required by the ancients for the purposes of their life which the Great
King could not command without having recourse to others than his own
subjects. It may be likewise noticed that the more important were very
abundant, being found in many places and in large quantities. Gold was
furnished from the mountains and deserts of Thibet and India, from the
rivers of Lydia, and probably from other places where it is still found,
as Armenia, Cabul, and the neighborhood of Meshed. Silver, which was
the general medium of exchange in Persi