mahrī colour ink (iron gall)

Ingredients

gall nuts, iron filings, gum arabic

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Recipe for an iron-based ink made with gall nuts, iron filings, and gum arabic (p. 149, Figure 7.5 C). The tannins from the gall nuts are boiled with iron pieces (filings) and stabilized with gum arabic.

Evidence

"Interestingly, al-Marrākušī was aware of the resulting colour, as the title of the preparation, “Production of an ink that comes out in the mahrī colour” shows; moreover, it is included in the chapter on coloured inks, not in the chapter on black ḥibr (iron gall inks)."

Remarks

Al-Marrākušī describes this as 'mahrī' colour, interpreted as the brown-black colour typical of camels or the fruit of the colocynth (p. 148, note 39). Unlike other recipes, this one did not explicitly call for an additional acid source, resulting in a lighter colour after ageing compared to the Kenyan or Qalalūsī reproductions (p. 148).