Growing Papyrus
I got a big stand of papyrus in my garden.To grow it, all you need is a nice container of water (a half-whisky barrel is fine), a little sun, and a corner of your patio/yard/balcony (yes, you can grow this on a balcony) that isn't too draughty (papyrus blowing in the breeze is a picture of singular beauty but anything stronger than a breeze is likely to snap your reeds). It's not fussy about fertilizer or sun exposure and in a year or so you'll have these incredible seven- and eight-foot reeds with full, bushy, beautiful heads. Given room it spreads to fill your container: and it's literally impossible to overwater it.

Making Papyrus
When you got a good amount of reeds, harvest a few green stalks, and cut off the heads (don't forget to call for volunteers and thank Asar). The stalks in cross-section make perfect triangles: slice off the waxy outer skin and strip thin, even strips off with a carpet knife.

Take two boards big enough to overlap the size of the papyrus piece you wish to make. Line each of the boards with a few layers of linen. Papyrus is composed of several thin, even strips cut from the plant laid crosswise to each other in layers: warp, weft, warp, etc. Arrange your layers between the padded boards, clamp them together, put them in a dark, dry place with some bricks on them and wait a month or so. The linen absorbs the fluids and the clamped boards press the layers of papyrus fibre together so that they bond. Do not cut the papyrus: the size of your finished piece depends on the length of the reeds you cut your strips from.

To make those astounding scrolls and murals you see, you'll need those big whackin' eight-foot reeds that I've never seen anywhere except wild in the Nile and at Rosicrucian Park :)