bambuxinon (Manbij paper)

Ingredients

cellulose fibers, rags, bast fibers

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Muslim Arab papermakers learned to make paper from both bast fibers and rags (p. 58). In Manbij, the abundant water of the Sajur river was utilized for the physical breakdown of fibers into pulp using pounding mills, likely water-powered hammer mills (pp. 56-57).

Evidence

"The term bambuxinon in fact refers to the Syrian city of Manbij (known in Greek as Bambyke), located northwest of Raqqa on the Sajur river, whose abundant supply of water encouraged the manufacture of paper there at least from the tenth century"

Remarks

The term 'bombycin' was historically misunderstood by 19th-century scholars as referring to cotton or silk; it actually designates paper from Manbij (Bambyke). Cotton played an insignificant role in papermaking until the 18th century (p. 58).