parchment

Ingredients

animal skin, lime, chalk, calcite

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The support is animal skin parchment. FTIR analysis identified characteristic Amide I (~1660 cm⁻¹), II (~1540 cm⁻¹), and III (~1235 cm⁻¹) bands (p. 8). Carbonates, specifically calcite, were detected exclusively on the flesh side via an absorption band at 869 cm⁻¹, indicating a surface preparation using lime or chalk to homogenize the surface (p. 8).

Evidence

"The Münster fragments are the remains of three Qurʾānic leaves on parchment... Hs. 15a, which showed significant signs of ink corrosion, was completely laminated with tissue paper while only the margins of Hs. 15b... were strengthened with the same tissue paper."

Remarks

The fragments (Hs. 15a, b, c) correspond to an original large-format vertical Qur'anic codex of 18 lines per page (p. 2). C14 dating of Hs. 15c returned a 95.4% probability range of 666-774 CE, placing it in the Umayyad period (p. 10). Fragments show variations in surface treatment between the hair and flesh sides (p. 8).