Wadi El Natrun
"Cyperus papyrus" is nearly extinct in its native habitat in the Nile Delta, where in ancient times it was widely cultivated. It is for example depicted on a restored stucco fragment from the palace of Amenhotep III near the present day village of Malkata. In Egypt today, only a small population remains in Wadi El Natrun. Theophrastus's "History of Plants" (Book iv. 10) states that it grew in Syria, and according to Pliny's "Natural History", it was also a native plant of the Niger River and the Euphrates.