non-vitriolic iron-gall ink

Ingredients

iron filings, iron, potassium

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The text mentions that ways of obtaining iron for iron-gall ink other than vitriolic salts existed, specifically 'the use of iron filings, with and without vitriol' (p. 107). This specific ink in T-S 12.49 is identified as a non-vitriolic iron-gall ink because it lacks the 'vitriolic satellites' like manganese, copper, or zinc (p. 108).

Evidence

"This manuscript is a ketubah written during the middle of the 11th century by Yefet b. David... Figure 4.21 displays primarily the results based on the signature of Sahlān b. Abraham... This ink... contains only iron. Moving from the parchment to the ink, the amount of iron increases significantly (seen in red). The values for the potassium (in purple) display the same pattern as the iron only in the portion of the graphic corresponding to the ink; this shows that the ink contains potassium in addition to iron."

Remarks

Analysis of the signature of Sahlān b. Abraham on manuscript T-S 12.49 shows iron as the only metallic component. The reflectography (Figure 4.20b) shows the ink loses opacity under NIR light, which is characteristic of iron-gall inks. XRF spectra display peaks at 6.4 keV for Kα and 7 keV for Kβ for iron, which increase from support to ink, whereas Mn and Cu peaks show no change from the support, confirming their absence in the ink (p. 108).