flax

Ingredients

flax, quicklime, rice water, bran water, starch

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The manufacturing process involves soaking flax in quicklime, which is then rubbed by hand and sun-dried. This cycle with fresh quicklime is repeated multiple times (p. 10). The fibers are washed until free of lime, then pounded in a mortar before being introduced into molds to ensure regular thickness. After drying, the paper is treated with either rice water or bran water. Starch is also employed as a glazing agent to improve the surface finish (p. 10).

Evidence

"According to ibn Badis, the flax is soaked in quicklime, rubbed with the hands, and spread out in the sun to dry. It is then returned to fresh quicklime."

Remarks

Levey notes that while paper originated in China and moved through Samarkand, the ibn Badis text provides one of the earliest Arabic descriptions of the process, specifically using flax as the primary fiber (p. 10).