This is a short story of how papyrus originated:

It is believed that papyrus was first used about 4000 BC, and became one of Egypt’s major exports. Egyptian rulers realizing the importance of papyrus, made its production a state monopoly, and guarded the secret of papyrus jealously. There was no real competition to papyrus until when in 105 AD in China Ts’al Lun, a court official, invented paper and the rest is history.