yellow ochre (Akkadian kalû)
Mesopotamia
Source: Katja Weirauch and Michele Cammarosano, "WOW! Writing on Wax in Ancient Mesopotamia and Today", in Traces of Ink: Experiences of Philology and Replication, ed. L. Raggetti (Brill, 2021).
Recipe Details
Ingredients
beeswax, yellow ochre (kalû), sesame oil
Preparation Steps
Neo-Babylonian cuneiform accounts suggest a proportion of 6.6% and 10% of ochre in the wax paste (p. 21). Sesame oil is also mentioned in expenditure accounts, though its specific role in the initial paste manufacture is debated (p. 16, 21).
Original Recipe Text
Neo-Babylonian cuneiform accounts suggest a proportion of 6.6% and 10% of ochre in the wax paste (p. 21). Sesame oil is also mentioned in expenditure accounts, though its specific role in the initial paste manufacture is debated (p. 16, 21).
Evidence
"These texts not only mention wooden boards, but also regularly refer to beeswax and yellow ochre (Akkadian kalû) as the necessary raw materials, thus providing indirect evidence for the composition of the wax paste."
Remarks
Yellow ochre was the standard additive used in ordinary Mesopotamian boards, producing a color resembling that of clay tablets (p. 14). Experimental results show that adding ochre reduces the beeswax's stickiness and increases its malleability (p. 21).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
cuneiform tablets... containing expenditure accounts
Certainty Level
Probable
Instrumentally Verified
Not Verified
Metadata
Material Type
pigment
Binderbeeswax
ColorYellow
RegionMesopotamia
Approx. Year-750
Source Information
AuthorKatja Weirauch and Michele Cammarosano, "WOW! Writing on Wax in Ancient Mesopotamia and Today", in Traces of Ink: Experiences of Philology and Replication, ed. L. Raggetti
CollectionBabylon (expenditure accounts)
Language
N/A
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