iron-gall ink with no significant impurities

Ingredients

iron filings, nails, tannins, gum arabic

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Described as a secondary ink, likely a non-vitriolic iron-gall ink (p. 4). It is characterized by a high iron content but a lack of copper, manganese, or zinc impurities (p. 4, 6). Such inks are known from historical Arabic recipes that specify the use of iron filings, nails, or solid pieces of iron rather than vitriol (p. 4). Like the primary ink, it contains gum arabic as a binder (p. 7).

Evidence

"XRF scans, displayed as heat maps in Fig. 7, show the presence of iron in this ink, while contributions from copper, although faint, can be attributed to the text written on the verso, suggesting the use of an iron-gall ink with no significant impurities or even of a non-vitriolic iron-gall ink for the reinking."

Remarks

This secondary ink was used for later scribal interventions, specifically re-inking (jandara) faded text on fragments Hs. 15a and Hs. 15c, and inserting a correction on Hs. 15b (p. 1, 9, 10). The practice of re-inking was considered a pious act to maintain the legibility of the sacred text (p. 10). The study suggests these interventions occurred when the manuscript was endowed to the mosque of 'Amr b. al-'As after 876-9 CE (p. 10).