ABSTRACT
In ancient Egypt, people were influenced by the plants growing around them. The fact that certain plant shapes were copied in stone for architectural purposes has already been mentioned: ancient Egyptian builders copied the flower of the lotus plant, in bud or fully open, and the leaves of palm trees as design ideas when creating stone column capitals. A particularly important native plant was the common reed. Another reed, Arundo donax (Spanish reed), also growing in Egypt, was not used to the same extent as the common reed. This reed grew along the river Nile in great abundance, and was in use for pens, arrows and small pieces of furniture. The leaves were used for making sleeping mats and the rhizomes for medicinal purposes.1
