red cinnabar (الزنجفر الاحمر)

Ingredients

red cinnabar, sour pomegranate seeds, water, dissolved gum arabic

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The cinnabar is ground finely and rinsed with the water of sour pomegranate seeds (p. 166). It is purified by sedimentation for one hour. The resulting suspension is ground on an impermeable or polished permeable stone slab with water added gradually until it reaches the consistency of harira soup (p. 166). Dissolved gum arabic is then added and pounded vigorously into the substance. To use as an ink, it is poured onto a silk wad (liqa) in 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. (p. 166)"

Remarks

The text notes that the ink is applied with a hair brush when used for paints on images, resulting in a 'precious red' (p. 166). The author Abū al-Qāsim al-ʿIrāqī is also known as al-Sīmāwī (p. 154).