golden orpiment in leaves (zarnīḫ asfar)

Ingredients

golden orpiment, water

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The procedure involves taking golden orpiment and cutting it with scissors into lentil-sized pieces. These are then crushed finely. Water is added slowly as the material is ground for a significant duration until it reaches a consistency resembling 'smoke or fine dust' (p. 51). The text suggests that the readiness of the pigment is indicated by thin threads or 'chains' appearing on the crushing stone, though modern replication (p. 40) did not clearly observe this phenomenon.

Evidence

"As for the yellow, it derives from the golden orpiment in leaves... take the golden orpiment, cut it with the scissors in pieces of the size of lentils; crush it finely until you like its thinness; then let the water slowly drip on it, go on to the greatest length in grinding it as much as you can, until its aspect is satisfactory and its thinness is like that of smoke or fine dust."

Remarks

The paper distinguishes this as a 'primary' yellow pigment (p. 40). Technical literature of the period often associated yellow with both mineral (orpiment) and vegetal (saffron) sources. This specific mineral preparation was noted for its stability compared to organic compound yellows (p. 40).