iron-gall ink

Ingredients

iron sulphate, tannins, tamarisk galls, burned bones

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The paper suggests that in Greco-Roman Egypt, tannins were likely extracted from either the thriving wine industry (p. 11) or from tamarisk galls (p. 11), which are rich in tannins and were cultivated for pharmacological purposes. These tannins were mixed with iron sulphate to produce iron-gall ink. Some samples (Sample 33) also show traces of calcium phosphate, suggesting the possible addition of burned animal bones into the ink composition (p. 7).

Evidence

"A large amount of iron found with EDX spectra (around 3.7%) indicates an iron-gall ink, as seen in Fig. 6."

Remarks

Iron-gall inks are found to be associated primarily with the production of literary books during the Byzantine period (p. 11). These inks often form a superficial crust on the papyrus and are more easily removed from the cellulosic support than carbon-based inks (p. 11). The research confirms the transition from carbon-based inks in the Roman period to iron-gall inks in the Byzantine period for high-standard book production (p. 1, p. 10).