What did papyrus mean in ancient Egypt?

Wadj: green, fresh, flourishing. It is the plant of Lower Egypt and of the marsh where Isis hid the child Horus.

What the sign shows: A single papyrus stem.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: The papyrus is the cradle and the sceptre of the child Horus in Massey’s reading: the shoot that rises out of the water.
Where you see it today: Our word “paper” comes from papyrus.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 252 times across the book. Book V, p. 256: “The people of the reed”; Book V, p. 255: “Born from a bed of reeds”; Book X, p. 663: “The child in the ark of reeds”.
Signs that look like it: Lotus, Sycamore and Feather of Maat. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “A papyrus reed was the throne and sceptre of Horus, the sign of his sovereignty.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book XII, p. 874)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Papyrus. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

Next questions