paper
Arabic
16th Century
Source: Gacek, A. (2001). The Arabic Manuscript Tradition: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden: Brill.
Recipe Details
Ingredients
silk, beeswax
Preparation Steps
Polishing thin silk threads with beeswax (sham‘ al-‘asal) prior to sewing quires (p. 248).
Original Recipe Text
Polishing thin silk threads with beeswax (sham‘ al-‘asal) prior to sewing quires (p. 248).
Evidence
"When thin threads were used (often made of silk), they easily cut through the paper. In order to diminish this unwanted effect they were polished with beeswax (sham‘ al-‘asal ) (Murũwah 1997: 51)."
Remarks
This practice was intended to prevent thin, high-tensile threads from slicing through paper folios during the binding process. Coloured threads (blue, red, gold, green) were also sometimes used for symbolic reasons (p. 248).
Scientific Analysis
Analytical Techniques
Visual inspection
Codicological analysis
Certainty Level
Inferred
Instrumentally Verified
Not Verified
Metadata
Material Type
paper
Paper Typepaper
RegionArabic
Approx. Year1550
Source Information
AuthorGacek, A.
CollectionTa‘rģfāt al-Jurjānģ (McGill MS no. 244)
Language
N/A
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