The article focuses on the contemporary use of the Middle eastern plant Thymelaea hirsuta, called Mitnan, as a papermaking fiber, while tracing its past history as a fiber plant used by the Bedouin in the Negev desert. A detailed account is given about the plant's history, uses, and distribution in the Middle East. The article describes Bedouin use of the bast fiber for rope making, as well as other domestic and medicinal uses of the entire plant. It concludes with a discussion of its current use for hand papermaking in Beer Sheva, Israel. Use of mitnan bast fiber by the authors involves processing the inner bark to obtain pulp from which sheets of paper are formed. A step by step account is given describing how the bast fiber is processed into paper under small hand paper mill conditions, both oriental and western methods of papermaking being used. -- AATA