The director of the second largest papyrus collection in the world describes how the ancient papyri were manufactured, how they came to be miraculously preserved, and what must NOT be done and what is being done to conserve them. In 1984 the first symposium on papyrus conservation was held in Vienna and a second one will be held there in 1987. Dr. Harrauer shows photographic examples of the conservation process and relates the origin and extent of the Vienna collection including its holdings in other ancient media used for inscription, e.g., parchment, oriental paper, pottery, wooden and wax tablets, linen, leather, and animal bones, and cites the many languages and forms of writing used in ancient Egypt. The article is supplemented by an appendix listing papyrus collections in the German language area. -- AATA