Papyrus is a material similar to thick paper that was used in ancient times as a writing material. It was first known to have been used in Egypt, as the papyrus plant was once abundant across the Nile Delta. Papyrus was made from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus, a wetland sedge. Papyrus can also refer to a document written on sheets of such material, joined side by side and rolled up into a scroll, an early form of a book.