red cinnabar

Ingredients

red cinnabar, sour pomegranate seeds, water, dissolved gum arabic, washed silk wad

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Take red cinnabar and grind it finely. Rinse it with the water of sour pomegranate seeds, pour water over it, and rinse well. Purify it after leaving it for one hour until the suspension settles (p. 166). Then, grind it in either an impermeable or on a polished permeable stone slab. Add water gradually and grind until it cannot absorb any more water and is similar to ḥarīra soup (p. 166). Finally, add dissolved gum arabic and pound it vigorously until absorbed into the substance. If intended for ink, pour this on a washed silk wad inside a glass jar (p. 166).

Evidence

"Take some red cinnabar, grind it finely, then rinse it with the water of sour pomegranate seeds, pour water over it and rinse well, and purify it after leaving it for one hour, until [the suspension] has settled."

Remarks

The text notes that if used for paints, a hair brush should be used to spread it onto images (p. 166). The author mentions that pomegranate water is often substituted with gall nut water in other treatises (p. 167).