THE PROPHET MUSA (AS) REFERRED TO AS A MAGICIAN

In papyruses from the time of Pharaoh, the Prophet Musa (as) is regularly referred to as a magician. (The papyruses in question are held in the British Museum.) Despite all the best efforts of Pharaoh and his supporters, they were never able to get the better of the Prophet Musa (as) in their all-out war against him and the Children of Israel.

This is written on the second day of the seventh month of Payni during the reign of Ramses, the elder brother of Ammon, the Sun's son who is the administrator of justice, and who lives eternally like his father, the Sun… When you receive this letter, rise, set to work and undertake the supervision of the fields. When you hear the news of a new misfortune such as a flood ruining the entire cereals, think. Hemton destroyed them by consuming them greedily, granaries are cracked, rats are clumped in fields, fleas are like hurricane, scorpions are eating up greedily, wounds caused by little flies are too many to count. And these grieve the people… The Scribe [probably referring to the Prophet Musa (as)] fulfilled the purpose to destroy the total amount of cereals… Sorceries are like their bread. Scribe… is the first of men in the art of writing.

The reference to the Prophet Musa (as), and the "magician" accusations hurled at him, can be found in the following verses:

They said, "Magician, invoke your Lord for us by the contract He has made with you and we shall certainly follow the guidance." (Qur'an, 43:49)

They said, "No matter what kind of Sign you bring us to bewitch us, we will not believe in you." (Qur'an, 7:132)

Source : MIRACLES OF THE QUR'AN.com

*** Papyrus ( /pəˈpaɪrəs/) is a thick paper-like material produced from the pith of the papyrus plant, Cyperus papyrus,[1] a wetland sedge that was once abundant in the Nile Delta of Egypt. Papyrus is first known to have been used in ancient Egypt (at least as far back as the First dynasty), but it was also used throughout the Mediterranean region. Ancient Egypt used this plant as a writing material and for boats, mattresses, mats, rope, sandals, and baskets. Chemically, papyrus is composed of 57 percent cellulose, 27 percent lignin, nine percent minerals, and seven percent water.[2]

A Section of the Egyptian Book of the Dead written on papyrus

Papyrus was first manufactured in Egypt as far back as the third millennium BC.[3] In the first centuries BC and AD, papyrus scrolls gained a rival as a writing surface in the form of parchment, which was prepared from animal skins.[4] Sheets of parchment were folded to form quires from which book-form codices were fashioned. Early Christian writers soon adopted the codex form, and in the Græco-Roman world it became common to cut sheets from papyrus rolls to form codices.

Codices were an improvement on the papyrus scroll as the papyrus was not pliable enough to fold without cracking and a long roll, or scroll, was required to create large volume texts. Papyrus had the advantage of being relatively cheap and easy to produce, but it was fragile and susceptible to both moisture and excessive dryness. Unless the papyrus was of perfect quality, the writing surface was irregular, and the range of media that could be used was also limited.

Papyrus was replaced in Europe by the cheaper locally-produced products parchment and vellum, of significantly higher durability in moist climate