gold

Ingredients

gold, dhahab

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The manuscript features gold script (maktūba bi’l-dhahab) applied to blue-dyed parchment. The gold of the calligraphy was applied first, prior to the addition of decorative outlines (p. 114, n. 17). Historical accounts such as Rashīd ibn al-Zubayr describe these as 'written in gold outlined in ultramarine' (maktūba bi’l-dhahab al-mukaḥḥal bi’l-lāzaward), though some scholars previously interpreted this as gold darkened with pigment (p. 114, n. 30).

Evidence

"The fact that the outline was added after the letters had been written in gold is revealed by close observation of the manuscript, where the brown line occasionally runs across the gold."

Remarks

The term 'mukaḥḥal' is interpreted through etymology as 'outlined' (suggested by Tim Stanley), specifically referring to an action done to the gold letters rather than the substrate (p. 114, n. 30). This Kufic manuscript style reflects luxury production in the 9th or 10th century, possibly of Hispano-Umayyad or Fatimid provenance (p. 117, n. 67).