Islamic paper and quasi-Islamic paper

Ingredients

soda, alum, natron

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Historical Arabic primary texts (10th-17th centuries) indicate that Islamic paper was produced in a range of natural colors. The dyeing process was applied to ready-made paper by dipping it directly into a dye bath, similar to textile dyeing (p. 1). Primary sources explain materials and traditional techniques used in the Arab world, often involving the extraction of dyes from fruits, seeds, bark, flowers, and roots (p. 3). Recipes listed in 'Additional file 1' include various additives like alum, soda, and natron used during the dyeing process (p. 3).

Evidence

"Both Islamic and quasi-Islamic paper were dyed with various natural dyes for many reasons such as aesthetic [5, 6], legibility [7], symbolic [8] or even preservation [9]."

Remarks

The paper distinguishes between 'Islamic paper' (8th-17th c.) and 'quasi-Islamic paper', a hybrid with European substrate but Islamic finish (p. 1). Finishing materials often included sizing and polishing to improve properties (p. 2). The study used sacrificial samples from the Ain Shams University collection and the Ljubljana collection for destructive HPLC analysis (p. 4).