minium (μίλτος), red anemone (ἀνεμώνη)

Ingredients

red anemone, juice from an artichoke, seed of the Egyptian acacia, minium, asbestos, quicklime, wormwood, gum arabic, rainwater

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Writing made with Typhonian ink: red anemone, juice from an artichoke, seed of the Egyptian acacia, Typhonian minium (μίλ[τ]ου Τυφῶνος), asbestos, quicklime, wormwood with a single stem, gum arabic, rainwater (p. 49). Also mentioned is a myrrh ink to which Typhonian minium (μιλτάριον Τυφῶνος) is added (p. 49).

Evidence

"The use of minium for writing, though, was not restricted to magic: according to the results of modern chemical analysis, it is, indeed, one of the commonest substances used in the red inks of Greco-Roman Egypt."

Remarks

The term 'blood of Typhon' or 'blood of donkey' is frequently a Decknamen (code name) for minium (red lead) or specific plant saps. Chemical analysis has confirmed minium as a common red pigment in this period, often substituted for ritual donkey blood in magic contexts (p. 49-50).