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These products can cost as little as $3 (Dh11) and up to $200 or more, depending on the quality of painting.
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The paintings, he said, are most often imitation prints of original papyrus art, with different colouring techniques such as gouache, graphite and aquarelle colours. Those with Judgment Day, Egyptian lunar calendar, Queen Nefertiti and King Tut are among the most sold." Most tourists and even locals buy papyrus as gifts. Samy explained that papyrus has a big market, accounting for about 20 per cent of souvenir sales in Egypt. Fake papyrus is made from banana leaf or sugar cane and is extremely brittle and deteriorates rapidly." Genuine papyrus, made from the ‘Cyperus plant', has its fibres in cross hatches. "With today's mass production, buyers should be wary of fake papyrus. That was the source of papyrus even at the times of the pharaohs," Tarek Samy, the owner of a small papyrus stall, told Weekend Review. "Most papyrus art sold today comes from small workshops and factories based in the eastern governorate of Al Sharkia, 83 kilometres from Cairo. In different shops around the place, there wasn't a single passer-by who wasn't interested in checking the attractive paintings and wall-hanging sheets of this forerunner of paper. In this market at the heart of the Fatimid Cairo, a Turkish caravanserai during the Ottoman era, much of the ancient heritage of Egypt has been carefully revived, including the craft of making papyrus.
#Egyptian painting on papyrus series#
Souvenir Saturday is an every-other week series on the items that represent travel memories.A medieval breeze laced with the scents of flowers and spices will accompany you on your way through the narrow mazes and twisting alleyways of Khan Al Khalili bazaar, a 14th-century oriental market, but what will charm you the most is the scene of shops filled with papyrus of all sizes and colours. The major sellers (and “Museums”) will often give a stamp or seal with the purchase to certify authenticity. Replicas are often fed through a printer and the paint may flake off. When looking to buy papyrus, look to see if it is hand painted with imperfections. Note that the darker variety is not as strong as the lighter variety. You’ll notice the edges will be more fibrous. The dark takes longer to make as it is aged more. There are two kinds of papyrus, a light (as shown above) and a dark. True papyrus is slightly opaque and will be heavier and stronger than the fake kind. Another way to tell real papyrus is that if you roll it, it will try to flatten itself back out. It is also technically waterproof, although the painting/design on it won’t be. This process makes real papyrus stronger than normal paper and makes it difficult to tear. You can tell that it is real papyrus via the light criss-cross patterns. The remaining sugar helps to bind the strips like glue. Later these pieces are placed on a cotton sheet then pressed into place with a mallet in alternating directions. This helps reduce the sugar content in the papyrus, making it stronger and long-lasting. Then the stems are stripped into thin pieces and weighed down to flatten for 6 days to 2 months depending on the color they want to make. These stems are soaked in water for a long time, anywhere from 4-6 days up to a month. Real papyrus (as any of the “Museums” will show you) no longer grows wild on the banks of the Nile, and are made from Cyperus papyrus stems. But you have to be very careful, as you could end up with cheap banana leave replicas, or artwork simply printed off a printer. And you’ll pass dozens of “Papyrus Museums” aka showrooms of the stuff. Sellers at historical sites will have them displayed prominently.
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Touts will wave bookmarks and small art at you on the streets. Papyrus is the ancient symbol of Lower Egypt and you’ll see it everywhere in Egypt.