Zionists drained most of the swamp earlier in this century, destroying the habitat of the papyrus, the northernmost population of this plant in the world. This swamp, the Hula Swamp, was a malarial area. In an apparent reference to the Nile, Isaiah 18:1-2 refers to these boats, "Woe to the land of whirring wings along the rivers of Cush, which sends envoys by sea in papyrus boats over the water."Īt one time, there was a large population of papyrus in northern Israel in an area that the Bible refers to as the waters of Merom (Joshua 11:5) or Lake Merom. This absorbency caused by the large air spaces provided buoyancy in making boats. In some places, ie Exodus 2:3, 5 papyrus is used for cuwph. The thick stems are filled with cells that contain air, and may be the reason it is called agam (with variations), meaning absorbent in Hebrew. Resembling a grass but in a related family, papyrus has a round stem several meters tall that bears a spherical mass of tiny flowers on long, flexuous stalks at the top. Paper was made by pounding the soft stems together. Papyrus is the source of the English word paper. Still common in parts of the Nile, bulrush or papyrus ( Cyperus papyrus), is also found throughout much of Africa. While giant cane and common reed are the most widespread of Bible wetland plants, perhaps the best known is bulrush mentioned in the story of baby Moses (Exodus 2) where the child was hid in the vegetation along the Nile River.
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