orpiment or yellow ochre

Ingredients

beeswax, mineral pigment, sesame oil, date syrup, ghee

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The medium is prepared by melting beeswax (which melts between 62 and 65 °C) and stirring in mineral pigments such as orpiment or ochre (p. 19-20). In Mesopotamia, additions of sesame oil, date syrup, and ghee were used as a release agent for the stylus (p. 22). Styli were periodically dipped in a viscose mixture of these ingredients before or during writing to prevent the tool from sticking to the wax surface (p. 18, 22).

Evidence

"They consist of one or more ‘leaves’ provided with a recessed frame that holds a beeswax-based mixture on which marks can be scratched or impressed."

Remarks

Wax boards were the longest-lived writing medium in human history, used for over three millennia (p. 7). They served as an excellent technology for contexts requiring frequent corrections, as the marks can be erased by passing a spatula or globular tip over the surface (p. 8-9). Experimental results confirm that pure beeswax is unsuitable for cuneiform due to stickiness and translucency, requiring pigment additives for contrast and malleability (p. 20, 21).