The Invention of Paper

January 21st 2018:
      Today we went and visited an old paper mill in the coastal town of Amalfi. The mill has since been converted into a museum to commemorate its history, but we were still able to use the machines to make our own Lute paper! There's this neat process where you mix cloth fibers in water, and then use a frame to capture the fibers into a rectangular shape and filter the water out. From there it gets pressed a couple times to smoosh out any remaining water and compact the fibers together. Annnnd...voilá! You now have traditional paper.

     The article we had discussed the origins of paper. The Sumerians were the first to write things down on their clay tablets with cuneiform, and it was an entire millennium later when the Egyptians started using papyrus for their hieroglyphics. The Egyptians made a lot of profit exporting their papyrus to the rest of the world, especially since efforts to produce papyrus in other parts of the world met with failure. However, China was the first country to invent paper, a little over three millennium after papyrus was invented. There was one problem: China kept paper a state secret for six centuries before conflict with the Arabs leaked it out. Because paper was easy to make and resources to produce it common, the Arabs started producing paper all over their territory and exporting it to other nations. From there paper started being produced in places like Spain, Italy and Germany.

     Nowadays, paper production has returned to China and is used all over the world for a variety of products. Production has advanced technologically to the point where handmade paper is no longer feasible, economical or profitable. But it sure makes for a great tourism stop!