Five thousand years ago, people wrote on clay tablets because paper had not yet been invented. Clay tablets were heavy and easy to break, so each one could only be used once. Later, the Ancient Egyptians started making paper from papyrus plants to have a writing surface that was softer, lighter, and easier to use. They sliced papyrus plant stems into thin strips, laid them in layers, and pressed them to form sheets. Although difficult to produce, papyrus became widely used but remained expensive, so only wealthy individuals could regularly afford to write on it.

1. Write on the clay tablets

2. Write on the stone

3. Write on the bamboo card

4. Write on the turtle shell

5. Write on the kettledrum

6. Write on the paper

8. 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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9. reed

10. heavylight

11. easy
difficult

12. 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.

13. This armchair is soft. This chair is hard.

14. Papyrus plants

15. Papyrus

16. How to make papyrus

17. 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.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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 on
6. Only rich people used papyrus. It was ………….. .
heavy
easy
difficult
light
soft
expensive