Talhi Paper

Ingredients

white hemp, lime, fresh water, stalks of al-sumar

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Take good white hemp, clean it, soak, and comb it. Soak lime in water overnight, rub by hand, and spread in the sun until dry. Repeat soaking in lime water for 3-7 days, changing the water twice daily if possible, until whiteness peaks. Cut the hemp into small pieces and soak in fresh water for seven days, changing the water daily until the lime is gone. Pound in a mortar until finely crushed and like dough. Dissolve in water until like silk. Place in molds made of al-sumar stalks.

Evidence

"Take good white hemp $^{(3)}$, clean it of its stalks, and soak it $^{(4)}$ and comb it until it softens. Then take lime and soak it in it for a night until morning, then rub it well by hand and spread it in the sun all day until it dries. Then return it to the lime water for the following night in water other than the first, and leave it until morning. Then rub it as you did the first night and spread it in the sun. Do this for three, five, or seven days. If the lime water is changed twice every day, it is better. When its whiteness reaches its peak, cut it with shears into small pieces, then soak it in fresh water for seven days, changing the water every day. When the lime has left it, pound it in a mortar until it is finely crushed and becomes like dough. When it softens and no knots remain in it, take another water in a clean vessel and dissolve it in it until it becomes like silk. Then entrust it to molds of the desired size, which are made of stalks of *al-sumar* $^{(5)}$ and open at the sides, and place under them..."

Remarks

This recipe details the manufacture of Talhi paper, using hemp as the primary material. The process involves repeated soaking in lime water to achieve whiteness, followed by pounding and forming into sheets using molds made of al-sumar stalks.