iron-gall ink

Ingredients

iron-gall ink

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

While no specific chemical recipe is provided, the paper references historical standards for liturgical scrolls. It notes that the Babylonian Talmud initially required carbon ink for Torah scrolls, though Maimonides later permitted iron-gall ink (p. 241). The analysis of the Bologna Scroll itself reveals it was 'initially written using at least two varieties of iron-gall inks' (p. 241). The text correlates the scroll's ink with that used in Perpignan at the time the scroll first appeared in historical records, which was iron-gall ink according to rabbi ham-Me'iri (p. 241).

Evidence

"The current tests have definitively determined that the Bologna Scroll was both written and corrected using multiple iron-gall inks."

Remarks

The analysis identified several distinct varieties of iron-gall ink within the scroll. The main text was produced using at least two varieties, likely by a single scribe (p. 241). Some corrections, both marginal and inline over erasures, utilized the same ink as the main text, indicating they were contemporaneous (p. 241). In contrast, a line filler on column 165 and certain marginal corrections in 'tiny letters' (p. 242) used different inks, suggesting they were added in a second stage or by multiple scribes. One correction was identified with an ink 'so far unique in the scroll' (p. 242). Despite being iron-gall based, the ink is noted for the 'blackness of its appearance' (p. 241).