Another Type

Ingredients

Pits of Ijas (plum) seeds, Minium, Roman gallnuts, Wine vinegar, Milk of a woman who has given birth to a girl, Al-Hawari flour

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Take the pits of "Ijas" (plum) seeds, grind them, and sift them. Take from them the weight of two dirhams, and from minium the weight of a dirham, and from Roman gallnuts the weight of two dirhams. Mix the whole and let it sit for a month in the shade. Then take ten dirhams of wine vinegar and the weight of five dirhams of the milk of a woman who has given birth to a girl, for it will not be read until "Al-Hawari" flour is sprinkled upon it.

Remarks

This recipe describes an ink made with plum seed pits, minium, Roman gallnuts, wine vinegar, and human milk. The mixture is left to sit for a month in the shade. The final test of the ink's quality is that it cannot be read until Al-Hawari flour is sprinkled upon it.