Developed in Pergamon, the city for which it is named, ‘pergaminus’ – from which we get the word ‘parchment’ - was developed some time during the 2nd or 3rd centuries BC. It was created following an embargo on the export of papyrus from Ptolemaic Egypt, ostensibly due to over-harvesting of the reeds used to produce it, but possibly also due in part to animosity between Ptolemy and Eumenes caused by the construction of a great library at Pergamon to rival Alexandria’s. Whereas papyrus was made from reed stems cut into strips and layered into scrolls, pergaminus consisted of animal hide, particularly calfskin, that was stretched and then scraped to remove all oils and remnants of flesh before drying. Although its production methods have been refined over the centuries, parchment is essentially made in the same way today, although on a far smaller scale since the development of paper from wood pulp, of course.
