zube

Ingredients

lampblack, cottonseed oil, animal fat, ivory, desert date wood, gum, honey, sugar, date pulp, egg white, egg yolk

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Lampblack was obtained from burning oils such as cottonseed, animal fat, ivory or the wood of the desert date (BL2), then ground to a fine powder (p. 23). Zube was made glossier with the addition of honey, sugar or date pulp, which acted as a plasticizer and contributed smoothness for ink flow (p. 23). Egg white or egg yolk could also be added to improve binding and stability (p. 23).

Evidence

"Examination of old allo and manuscript folio confirms the use of coarse carbon tawada on allo and refined lampblack-like zube on paper."

Remarks

Zube is dense black because the carbon particles are ground extremely fine and uniform. Use was confined to fine calligraphic Qur'ans from Kano and Bornu (p. 23). The lampblack takes a long time to prepare and dry—estimated at a day for one page of text (p. 23). Despite the high gum content, zube remains highly water-soluble (p. 23).