rubrication

Evidence

"on fo. 197b, the copyist rubricised luṭūkh al-ḥayyāt (snake ointments), then listed the first ingredient as ḥabb al-qarʿ (pumpkin seed) – the poultice and the first ingredient – are rubricised."

Remarks

In Note 31, the author identifies rubrication (the use of red pigment) as a structural tool within MS 5146 (a copy of the Mamluk treatise Minhāj al-dukkān by al-Aṭṭār al-Isrāʾīlī). The copyist used red color to highlight 'luṭūkh al-ḥayyāt' (snake ointments) and its primary ingredient 'ḥabb al-qarʿ' (pumpkin seed) on folio 197b (p. 134). This visual evidence is used to correct modern misinterpretations of the text's structure, proving that rubrication served as a distinct marker between titles and ingredients. Although the treatise is Mamluk in origin (Cairo context), this specific manuscript copy is dated to AH 1279/1862 CE (p. 134, p. 138).