gold

Ingredients

gold

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The gold ink was used for specific calligraphic scripts like Thuluth or Tawqi' (p. 90). In the Chester Beatty Qur'an sample, it was used for surah-headings, juz'-statements, and various tables (p. 91).

Evidence

"Dhahab (properly qalam al-dhahab, lit. ‘script of gold’) is an appellation found in Mamluk literature on calligraphy and given to thuluth or tawqīʿ scripts written in gold ink (Gacek 1989B: 145). ... One of the early examples of this script in the form of tawqīʿ (probably not thuluth, on account of its medium-size) can be found in the Chester Beatty Qurʾan of Ibn al-Bawwāb, dated 391/1000–01"

Remarks

This 'golden script' (Dhahab) was characterized by the absence of hairlines because the letters were physically outlined (muzammak) in another color to define the forms (p. 90). The sample MS 1431 is a famous early example of this technique in a Quranic context (p. 91).