The papyrus plant is a reed that grows along the Nile River in Egypt. Throughout much of the ancient history along the Mediterranean Sea (specifically Egypt, Greece, and the Middle East), the writing surface of choice for manuscripts was made from these reeds.
Papyrus reeds are unique in that they naturally adhere to each other when laid at 90 degree angles and pressed. These reeds will permanently stay affixed, making a suitable flexible writing surface, using inks of various compositions.
The recto (front) surface of the papyrus sheet would consist of the horizontal reeds, since they formed rows to aid in properly aligning written text.
Scrolls
The earliest of papyrus manuscripts, such as those by Greek philosophers and playwrights, were distributed as scrolls. With these, the top and bottom of the sheet would be affixed with extended handles to easily roll the manuscript into a scroll for portability and for storage in earthen jars.
The verso (back) of the sheet would generally be left blank on the original manuscript, since the text would be left unprotected on the outside of the scroll.
Since papyrus was only available in Egypt, scrolls transported to remote destinations would be re-used on the verso. Frequently, the recto would also be "washed" of its ink and re-used, though this could degrade the papyrus over time.
Unless placed into storage, a scroll would last 25-50 years of constant use before developing tears and holes. Additionally insects and rodents would soon begin to destroy scrolls that were not stored into a dry or enclosed environment.
Codices
In the late 1st century AD, a new form of manuscript collection came into use: the codex. For codices, multiple papyri sheets were combined into duplexed pages and assembled with binding. In modern thought, a codex was a primitive book.
Codices had their benefits over scrolls in that they would take less physical volume and better protect multiple pages. For large collections of manuscript pages, a codex was a must.
Though most of the ancient world did not start using codices for manuscripts until well into the 2nd century AD, early Christians pushed their usage almost immediately, as the Gospels and Epistles were assembled into groups to be spread along the Mediterranean.
The oldest catalogued manuscript of the New Testament is a small fragment of the Gospel of John from around the year AD 125, though a recent discovery of a fragment from the Gospel of Mark may predate that by up to 50 years. The oldest complete manuscript consists of several epistles by Paul from around AD 175.
By @HullBreach
