Reed — The Atlas

Mesopotamian tradition

Reed appears in Mesopotamian tradition.
The Epic of Gilgamesh names reed huts and marsh reed among the flood survivor’s world and the southern waters. A named plant in that epic, not papyrus as the Egyptian marsh plant and not aulos as Hellenic reed-pipe.
from Epic of Gilgamesh, c. 1200 BCE (this recension)
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Reed is used in Medicine.
Dioscorides’ De Materia Medica lists reed (kalamos) root and nodes among drawing and ear-drug materials. A named reed in that handbook, not Gilgamesh marsh-reed speech already walked and not aulos as Hellenic reed-pipe.
from Pedanius Dioscorides · De Materia Medica, 1st century CE
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Reed is historically related to Lime.
In Vitruvius’s Ten Books on Architecture, vaulting of reed bundles has mortar of lime and sand spread above to check drops from the roof — reed vaulting is capped with that lime mortar.
from Vitruvius; Morris Hicky Morgan (translation) · De Architectura, 1st century BCE; Morgan English 1914
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Reed is historically related to Mortar.
In Vitruvius Ten Books on Architecture, reed vaultings are set and interwoven, then mortar of lime and sand is spread above them - reed work receives that mortar.
from Vitruvius; Morris Hicky Morgan (translation) · De Architectura, 1st century BCE; Morgan English 1914
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Silk
In Vitruvius Ten Books on Architecture, when Greek reed is wanting, marsh reeds are made up with silk cord into equal bundles before tying them to the beams.
from Vitruvius; Morris Hicky Morgan (translation) · De Architectura, 1st century BCE; Morgan English 1914
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Reed is historically related to Sand.
In Vitruvius Ten Books on Architecture, reed vaulting is followed immediately by mortar of lime and sand spread above to check drops from the joists.
from Vitruvius; Morris Hicky Morgan (translation) · De Architectura, 1st century BCE; Morgan English 1914
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Nahua tradition

Reed appears in Nahua tradition.
Sahagún’s Florentine Codex records acatl in Book 11 plant chapters — named reed including day-sign plant speech. A colonial-era Nahua ethnographic attestation, not a pan-Mesoamerican essence and not an unfiltered pre-invasion voice.
from Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators · Florentine Codex, c. 1577
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Roman religion

Reed appears in Roman religion.
Pliny’s Natural History seats reeds among wetland plants used for writing, thatch, and craft. A named reed in that encyclopedia, not the Gilgamesh reed already walked and not papyrus as the Egyptian paper plant.
from Pliny the Elder · Natural History, c. 77 CE
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Shinto

Reed appears in Shinto.
The Kojiki names the inhabited world Ashihara no Nakatsukuni, the Central Land of Reed Plains. Reed as the land’s own mythic epithet in that compilation, not Gilgamesh reed-boat speech and not a marsh dump alone.
from Ō no Yasumaro (compiler); Donald L. Philippi (translation) · Kojiki, 712 CE; Philippi trans. 1968
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Egyptian religion

Reed appears in Egyptian religion.
Herodotus’s Egyptian logos treats reeds among Nile plants used in craft and daily life. A named reed in that traveler’s speech, not reed-boat as the craft already walked and not papyrus as the writing-plant keep-apart.
from Herodotus · Histories, c. 440s BCE
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Hellenic religion

Reed appears in Hellenic religion.
Ovid’s Metamorphoses Book 1 turns Syrinx into reeds before Pan cuts the panpipes from them. A named reed metamorphosis in that poem, not panpipes as the instrument already walked and not a marsh-plant dump alone.
from Ovid · Metamorphoses, 8 CE
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Vedic tradition

Reed appears in Vedic tradition.
The Ṛgveda names reeds among wetland and mat materials in hymn landscape and craft speech. A named Vedic reed in that corpus, not a generic marsh dump and not Egyptian papyrus alone.
from Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton (translation) · The Rigveda, 2014 (this translation); hymns much older
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sources

Epic of Gilgamesh
The Epic of Gilgamesh, Standard Babylonian version (flood tablet; underworld material).
De Materia Medica · Pedanius Dioscorides
Dioscorides, De Materia Medica.
Florentine Codex · Bernardino de Sahagún and Nahua collaborators
Bernardino de Sahagún, General History of the Things of New Spain (Florentine Codex).
Natural History · Pliny the Elder
Pliny, Naturalis Historia.
Kojiki · Ō no Yasumaro (compiler); Donald L. Philippi (translation)
Donald L. Philippi, Kojiki.
Histories · Herodotus
Herodotus, Histories.
Metamorphoses · Ovid
Ovid, Metamorphoses.
The Rigveda · Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton (translation)
Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton, The Rigveda: The Earliest Religious Poetry of India.
De Architectura · Vitruvius; Morris Hicky Morgan (translation)
Vitruvius, The Ten Books on Architecture, trans. Morris Hicky Morgan (1914).