metallic ink
Egypt
Source: Thomas Christiansen, 'MANUFACTURE OF BLACK INK IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN', The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 2017, Vol. 54, pp. 167-195.
Recipe Details
Ingredients
iron, copper, metal bearing minerals
Preparation Steps
Mixed ink consists of carbon compounds with added metal-bearing minerals such as copper, iron, or lead (p. 170). A specific formula found in PGM XII.397-400 lists: 1 dram of myrrh, 4 drams of misy (interpreted as vitriol/chalcitis), 2 drams of blue vitriol, 2 drams of oak gall, and 3 drams of gum arabie (p. 185).
Original Recipe Text
Mixed ink consists of carbon compounds with added metal-bearing minerals such as copper, iron, or lead (p. 170). A specific formula found in PGM XII.397-400 lists: 1 dram of myrrh, 4 drams of misy (interpreted as vitriol/chalcitis), 2 drams of blue vitriol, 2 drams of oak gall, and 3 drams of gum arabie (p. 185).
Evidence
"chemical analyses undertaken at the Louvre in the late 1980s of the black ink of five bilingual (Demotic/Greek) papyri from the Ptolemaic period... studied using proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE), demonstrated that all the Greek texts, besides one, were written with a type of 'metallic ink'"
Remarks
The Greek texts on these bilingual papyri were written with metallic ink (encre métallogallique), while the Demotic texts were written with carbon ink (p. 185). The presence of both iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) was surprising (p. 185).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
proton induced X-ray emission (PIXE)
Certainty Level
Probable
Instrumentally Verified
Verified
Metadata
Material Type
ink
Paper TypePapyrus
ColorBlack
RegionEgypt
Approx. Year-350
Source Information
AuthorThomas Christiansen, 'MANUFACTURE OF BLACK INK IN THE ANCIENT MEDITERRANEAN', The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 2017, Vol. 54, pp. 167-195.
Collectionfive bilingual (Demotic/Greek) papyri from the Louvre
Language
N/A
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