Cum Grano Salis. Some Arabic Ink Recipes PDF

Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 7 (2016) 294338
brill.com/jim
Cum grano salis. Some Arabic Ink Recipes

in Their Historical and Literary Context*
Lucia Raggetti**
Geschichts- und KulturwissenschaftenWissensgeschichte
Freie Universitt, Berlin
lucia.raggetti@fu-berlin.de
Abstract
With the help of three case studies, this article presents ink recipes in their material and
literary context. By discussing the value of textual variants and problematic passages
in recipe collections, on the one hand, and their intellectual context on the other,
a philological and historical approach can offer a solid ground for new scientific
approaches to manuscript studies. The reconstruction of the literary history of these
materials helps in mapping routes for the transmission of technical knowledge in the
pre-modern Eastern world. This article also aims at making Arabic sources available to
a larger scholarly public in an English annotated translation. Specialists can profit from
the linguistic data, as well as from the discussion of the application of textual criticism
to technical materials.
* Submitted December 20, 2015. Accepted for publication January 17, 2016.
** I would like to thank Dr. Sara Fani for her remarks, which helped me to improve my readings
and translations. In general, her dissertation Le arti del libro secondo le fonti arabe originali.
I ricettari arabi per la fabbricazione degli inchiostri (sec. ixxiii): loro importanza per una
corretta valutazione e conservazione del patrimonio manoscritto. PhD dissertation, Napoli:
Universit LOrientale, 2013 (with its tables, glossaries and punctual translations) has been
a most precious tool for this research. My thanks also to Dr. Matteo Martelli, with whom I
discussed the Graeco-Byzantine and Syriac aspects involved in my research. Thanks also to
Claudia Colini who, at the beginning of November 2014, told me about the availability of
bl Add ms 7840, 48r, object of the second case study. All the translations, if not differently
specified, are mine.
koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2016 | doi: 10.1163/1878464X-00703002

arabic ink recipes in their historical and literary context 295
Keywords
ink recipes science of properties technical literature textual criticism philol-

ogy Arabic manuscript
Introduction
The last years have witnessed a rediscovery of the material aspects of manu-
scripts, and inks have been among the first objects of study for conservators
and chemists. This new perspective on the materials has opened the possibility
to replicate recipes and technical procedures. Lawrence Principe, describing a
similar situation for alchemical recipes, offers an interesting theoretical frame
for the contributions of chemistry and other modern disciplines to the study
of the history of science and technology.1
While it would be a serious mistake to reduce early modern chemistry

(or alchemy, if you prefer) to some sort of protochemistry, common ele-
ments between what practitioners of the seventeenth century did and
1 Lawrence W. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy. Chicago, London: The University of Chicago
Press, 2013, pp. 137138. For him, the replication may serve the purpose of proving the cor-
rectness of the interpretation, see Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 148. About the results
he adds: My replication proves that even some apparently unlikely chemical claims rest on
real laboratory operations, see Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 143. On the replication
of two inks recipes from Arabic treatises, see Fani, Le arte de libro, pp. 285296 (Sperimen-
tazione pratica del Laboratorio di Chimica dellicpal. Realizzazione di due ricette tradotte).
The scholarly attention to ink recipes and the primary sources on writing practices are also
of interest for other Oriental traditions. With respect to the Syriac one, for instance, three
contributions have been published in the volume Manuscripta Syriaca. Des sources de pre-
mire main, Paris: Geuthner, 2015: see Alain Desreumaux, Des couleurs et des encres dans
les manuscrits syriaques, pp. 161193, Jimmy Daccache-Alain Desreumaux, Les textes des
recettes d encres en syriaque et en garshuni, pp. 195246, and Philippe Boutrolle-Jimmy Dac-
cache, Lexique comment: les vgtaux, les animaux et les minraux des recettes dencres
en syriaque et en garshuni, pp. 247270.
In the case of traditions with an extant documentation of written materials (among them,
Islamic ones), a third element may enter this process of replication: the great number of still
preserved Islamic manuscripts. Thus, it is no longer simply the replication of a procedure in
order to understand it more deeply, but rather the replication of a particular mixture used to
write on a specific codex. Given the ways in which technical knowledge was conceptualized
and described in pre-modern texts, the risk of falling into a circular argument is not negligible.

296 raggetti
what chemists of the twenty-first century do nevertheless exist. What is

certainly true is that the ways substances behave and react have remained
the same, even as the ways human observers explain and conceptual-
ize them have changed. Hence, modern chemistry can help the historian
of alchemy in two ways. First a knowledge of the chemical and physi-
cal properties of substances can help the historian grasp the processes
and the ideas that early authors describe incompletely or allusively. Sec-
ond and more vividly, a working knowledge of chemistry enables the
researcher to try to replicateand thereby understand better and more
deeplyhistorical processes and results.
Finding this perspective of great interest, I started thinking about the contri-
bution that the philologist may offer in this field. The philologist can be a kind
of historical informant, and thanks to his direct access to primary sources can
provide a great deal of information, both material and literary, about the texts
and their context. The starting point is a critical reconstruction of the text from
an historical perspective, a perspective that takes into account its typically fluid
tradition.2 Once the text has been established, it has to be matched with an
annotated translation, which conveys its complexity, problematizing all the
points that might be relevant to further steps in the research.
Over the past year, in the course of other research, I happened to collect
three textual examples of ink recipes transmitted within an Islamic man-
uscript, attached in different ways to the main text. These recipes give us
a vivid perspective on the material and the textual practices connected to
them, the perspective that is complementary to the treatises that specif-
ically focus on ink making and the arts of book more generally: al-Rzs Znat
al-kataba (d. 313 or 323/925 or 935);3 Ibn Bds Umdat al-kuttb (d. 454/
2 For the fluid tradition of texts on natural properties, see Lucia Raggetti The Book of Useful
Properties from the Parts of Animals by s ibn Al. An experimental approach to editing
a complex medical tradition, COMSt Newsletter 4 (2012), pp. 79 and Lucia Raggetti, The
Science of Properties and its Transmission, in: J. Cale Johnson (ed.) In the Wake of the
Compendia: Infrastructural Contexts and the Licensing of Empiricism in Ancient and Medieval
Mesopotamia, Boston: De Gruyter, 2015, pp. 159176; for the fluid tradition of ink recipes, Fani,
Le arti del libro, pp. 164165.
3 Muammad ibn Zakariy al-Rz, Znat al-kataba, ed. Luf Allh al-Qr, lam al-Mat
wa-l-Nawdir 16/2 (1432 / 2011), pp. 211242; Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 39 and 4149 (Italian
translation of the recipes for inks); and Mahmoud Zaki, Early Arabic Bookmaking Tech-
niques as Described by al-Rz in his Recently Discovered Znat al-Katabah, Journal of Islamic
Manuscripts 2 (2011), pp. 223234. On the attribution of this text to al-Rz, see Ab al-Rayn

1161);4 al-Marrku (7th/13th cent.);5 and al-Qalals (d. 707/1308).6 The audi-
ence for these treatises was quite specialized (professional kuttb and stu-
dents), but the potential interest and the possibilities of application were
broader, so ink recipes occasionally drifted out of their specialistic niche and
entered into other textual genres. Together with compendia of useful and
occult properties of natural objects (minerals, plants, and animals), ink recipes
found their way into later technical treatises and handbooks as well, but this
time addressed to a different readership.
The juxtaposition of three case studies will allow us to mention, problema-
tize, and sometimes give a tentative answer to the main issues posed by these
kinds of texts: the fluidity of the textual tradition, technical terminology and
problems of identification of ingredients, the elusive blur of technical data
(weights and measures, for instance).
As for the Arabic text of the recipes, I oriented my editorial decision to make
it available to a broader scholarly audience, largely by adapting orthography to
modern use.7 Minor and very common orthographic phenomena (orthography
of the hamza, y/alif maqra, t marba/h) have simply been changed in
the edited text, whereas spellings that might reflect a spoken form of Arabic
or other meaningful linguistic traits, and related conjectures on problematic
formsin particular of technical termsare registered in the footnotes.
Muammad ibn Amad al-Brn, Risla li-Brn f fihrist kutub al-Rz. Eptre de Biruni con-
tenant le rpertoire des ouvrages de Muammad b. Zakariyy ar-Rz, ed. par Paul Kraus. Paris:
Maisonneuve, 1936; and Julius Ruska, al-Brn als Quelle fr das Leben und die Schriften
al-Rzs, Isis 5 (1923), pp. 2650.
4 Martin Levey, Medieval Arabic Bookmaking and Its Relation to Early Chemistry and Pharma-
cology, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, New Series, lii/4 (1962), pp. 179;
and Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 5055.
5 Muammad ibn Maymn ibn Imrn al-Marrku, Kitb al-azhr f amal al-abr li-Mu-
ammad ibn Maymn ibn Imrn al-Marrku, Zeitschrift fr die Geschichte der arabisch-
islamischen Wissenschaften 14 (2001), pp. 41133; Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 80132 (Italian
translation of the section on inks).
6 Ab Bakr Muammad ibn Muammad al-Qalals al-Andalus, Tuaf Al-Jaw F Turaf Al-
Jaw (Las galanduras de la nobleza en lo tocante a los conocimientos ms delicados), ed.
Hossam Ahmed Mokhtar El-Abbady. Alexandria: Maktabat al-Iskandariyya, 2007; Fani, Le arti
del libro, pp. 133154 (Italian translation of the sections on inks).
7 As suggested by Varvaro, an edition is always a compromise between the needs of three parts:
the author of the edition, the transmitted text, and its readership, see Alberto Varvaro, Prima
lezione di filologia. Roma-Bari: Laterza, 2012, pp. 4043.

298 raggetti
ms London, British Library, Add ms 7840, f. 48r8
The first example comes from a copy of the ar al-Mutaar f marifat al-
taqwm, an anonymous commentary on the work of Nar al-Dn al-s
(d. 672/1274) on the principles of astrology and astronomy. The colophon (f. 47r,
lines 2326) informs the reader that the copy was completed on 29 -l-Qada
1174 h (1761) by Yay al-Mawil ibn usayn ibn Muaf ibn asan.9 The end
of the text is followed by an astronomical table on the constellations of the
Zodiac, probably in a different hand. Whereas the copyist added on f. 48r [Fig. 1]
a short note on the preparation of an iron-gall ink, the two rubrics (line 1 and
line 5) seem to mark the incipit of two different procedures. Upon a closer
inspection, however, it is clear that these are instead two versions of the same
procedure. The second rubric, in fact, mentions quite concretely another copy
(nusa ur), in other words a different version of the same recipes recorded
in another manuscript. This suggests that the copyist saw the two descriptions
of a similar procedure as variants of a single text, showing quite an insight
into the fluid textual tradition of recipes collections. When compared more
closely, the two variants of the iron-gall ink recipe are quite distinct: the first
recipe gives metrologically measured amounts for the ingredients, while the
second gives relative indications (the part and its fractions). The issue of the
two contrastive systems of measurement probably remained problematic for
the copyist. This uneasiness is embodied in the two words (al awq, three
ounces) added over the first line, as an alternative to the generic indication a
number (adadan), only to be deleted with three strokes in the same red ink of
the rubrics. The first version includes an empirical suggestion to verify whether
the ink is ready or not (it should not seep through the paper), whereas the sec-
ond prescribes an unspecified number of days in sunlight. The second variant,
moreover, pays particular attention to the conservation of the ink for the sake
of its aesthetical result when used.
8 A digital reproduction of this manuscript has been made available through the cooperation
of the Qatar Foundation and the British Library: http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc
_100023494427.0x000069.
9 http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023494427.0x000067 (last accessed 8 August,
2016).

figure 1 ms London, British Library, Add ms 7840, f. 48r. Two variants of a recipe for the
preparation of a black iron-gall ink, attached to ar al-Mutaar f marifat al-
taqwm, an anonymous commentary on a work by Nar al-Dn al-s
http://www.qdl.qa/en/archive/81055/vdc_100023494427.0x000069

300 raggetti
On the preparation of iron-gall ink (midd): ) (

take a number three ounces of white gall nuts
(al-af al-abya), grind it, pour in three ral of
pure water, leave it in a vessel, then boil it
gently until half of the water is gonethe
sign of this is that it does not seep through 11
the paperfilter it,10 and leave it until it
cools down, add red vitriol until it becomes
black. Mix in two dirhams of gum arabic
ground or liquefiedfor each ral of water,
and then it will become good.
Another copy (nusa): take as many gall nuts

as you want, pour eight times its quantity of
pure water, leave it in a clean vessel and boil it
until one fourth of the water is left; then
remove it from the fire and filter it; pulverize
red and yellow vitriol, mix it, and let it dry out )( 12

for several days in the sun until it is pure.
Protect it from the dust, and if you want it to
be brilliant (barrq) leave in it gum arabic.
Then you can use it, whenever you need it.
End.
This plain recipe for an iron gall ink seems to have been quite popular, par-
ticularly in light of the fact that one or more versions of it are attested in the
majority of the technical treatises dealing with the preparation of inks.
al-Rz, Znat al-katabaWay to prepare an ink (ibr) to write on parchment

leaves (daftir)13
10 The semantic range of second form of the verb af includes different nuances: to make
clear and purify, to remove the water or the moist component, to dry out, and to filter. Case
by case, I have chosen the translation that seemed to be the most suitable.
11 ].
12 The verb meant here is probably dfa, or its variant fa, as suggested by the synonym in
the interlinear space.
13 al-Rz, Znat al-kataba, p. 223a, and Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 43. The translation of daftir
(sing. daftar) as parchment leaves is driven by the content and the context of al-Rzs
recipe. In this recipe, in fact, the best writing support in combination with this ink is

Take thirty gallnuts, crush them, pour on them three arl of pure water,
cook this over a low fire until it is reduced to one half of its amount. Then
filter it, add five dirham of good vitriol and ten dirhams of gum arabic,
leave it in the sun for one day, and then write with it. And if the black is
not good and tends towards red, then increase the quantity of vitriol in
it. If, instead, it is not brilliant, then increase the quantity of gum arabic.
Then use this to write on parchment (al-raqq) and for the copies of the
Quran (al-maif ).
Ibn Bds, Umdat al-kuttbRecipe for black ink (ibr)14
Take three ounces of gallnuts, one ounce of vitriol, one and a half ounces
of gum arabic, crush the gallnuts, pour eight parts of water on them for
each part of gallnut, and let it macerate for one day and one night. And if
it remains longer [in the solution], it is even better. Then put it over a low
fire, until one third of it is gone. When the gallnuts have deteriorated, then
it is ready. Then soak the gum arabic in water before cooking the gallnuts,
until it becomes like honey. Once the gallnuts are cooked, pour the gum
arabic on them. Leave it for a while, until it has melted well. Add the
vitriol, after having crushed it into a fine powder, and if it is not enough,
add some more. Do not add gum arabic if not previously soaked in water.
Preparation of an ink for writing on parchment leaves (daftir)
Take thirty gallnuts, pour three arl of water on them. Then cook it over
a low fire until one third is gone. Filter it and add five dirhams of vitriol
also called raqq (parchment) and maif (here parchment codices). If we look at
the context of this recipe in the Znat al-kataba, this preparation follows some recipes
for black carbon inks (midd) that are specific for different writing supports, namely
papyrus and paper. This choice of translation has been extended to the parallel versions
of the same recipe recorded by the different authors considered here. Moreover, the
Greek etymology of daftar (diphthera, leather) is another clue in favour of this working
hypothesis. See Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 17 and 166167. This translation is valid also for
other texts. In the pseudo-Aristotelian Book of stones, for instance, the use of a pumice
to abrade writing surfaces called daftir suggests that we are dealing with parchment.
14 I have revised Leveys English translation (see Levey, Medieval Arabic Bookmaking,
pp. 19a and 21a) on the Arabic edition, see al-Muizz ibn Bds al-Tamm al-anh,
Umdat al-kuttb wa-uddat aw al-albb. Fhi ifat al-a wa-l-aqlm wa-l-midd wa-l-
liyaq wa-l-ibr wa-l-asb wa-lat al-tald; eds Nab Mil al-Haraw and Im Makkiyya.
Mahad: Mama al-Bu al-Islmiyya, 1409/1988 H.Sh., pp. 39 and 44.

302 raggetti
and nine dirhams of gum arabic. Leave it in the sun for one day. If it is not
black, then add vitriol to make it good.
al-Marrku, Kitb al-azhrPreparation of an ink (ibr), the preparation of

which is attributed to Ab usayn Muslim ibn al-a al-Quayr, may God
be pleased by him.15
Take thirty gallnuts, crush them, pour three arl of pure fresh water, cook
it over a soft fire until half of it is gone. Then filter it, add five dirhams of
good vitriol and seven dirhams of gum arabic. Leave it in the sun for one
day or two, and then write with it. If you find that its black is imperfect
and tends to red, then increase the vitriol. And if it is not very brilliant,
then add gum arabic. Write on the parchment or paper (raqq wa-waraq)
of your choice, and you will see that it is as you like, God willing.
al-Qalals, Tuaf al-awAnother ink (midd) attributed to al-Rz16
Take thirty gallnuts, crush them, pour three arl of water on them, cook
this over a low fire until it is reduced to half of its quantity. Then filter it,
add five dirhams of good vitriol and seven dirhams of gum arabic, leave it
in the sun for one day, and then write with it. And if the black is not good
and tends to red, then increase the quantity of vitriol in it. If, instead, it
is not brilliant, then increase the quantity of gum arabic. The important
indication, in determining the amount of vitriol and gum arabic, is that it
has to be defined on the basis of the desired blackness and brilliance.
More than the linguistic aspects and differences in the wording, the techni-
cal connotation of the variants has to be highlighted as particularly interesting
and relevant. Variants connected to technical aspects were deliberately pro-
duced by authors and copyists, and may even reflect a regular practice and the
record of empirical observation. This kind of variant differs from the trivial
errors, banalizations, and minor changes in spelling. They deserve, therefore,
particular attention in the critical analysis of the texts, because these technical
15 al-Marrku, Kitb al-azhr, p. 79; Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 92.

16 al-Qalals, Tuaf Al-Jaw; p. 21, and Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 43 and 137. Ibn al-a
al-Quayr was a traditionist of the 3rd/9th century, see G.H.A. Juynboll, art. Muslim b.
al-adjdjdj in ei2, Encyclopaedia of Islam, New Edition, ed. P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis,
C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel, W.P. Heinrichs, vol. 7, pp. 691692 [1992]. Consulted online
on 15 August 2016 http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_5597.

variants are the textual landmarks in the transmission and evolution of techni-
cal knowledge, mirrored by its fluid textual transmission. The goal of attaining
an Ur-Rezept (original recipe) is a chimera, and not a particularly fascinating
one. Of course it is possible, to a certain extent, to establish a chronology of
textual evidences, but this approach alone fails to describe the complex trans-
mission and the innovations produced by the on-going discussion among the
experts. With a formal approach that isolates the three structural components
of the recipeingredients, phase of processing, and final outputthe differ-
ent nuances can be put in perspective, and be systematically categorized, free
from the puzzling impression that everything is similar but nothing is really the
same.17
Ingredients
gall nuts bl1. 3 ounces / a number
bl2. as much as you want
R. 30 gallnuts
ib1. 30 gallnuts
ib2. 3 ounces
m. 30 gallnuts
Q. 30 gallnuts
water bl1. 3 arl
bl2. 8 times the amount of gallnuts
R. 3 arl of pure water
ib1. 3 arl
ib2. 8 parts for each part of gallnuts
m. 3 arl of pure fresh water
Q. 3 arl
17 Sara Fani proposes a textual comparison for the recipes to prepare the midd Iraq, see
Fani, Le arti del libro, pp. 180191. In the table here, a siglum is assigned to each version
of the recipe transmitted by the different authors: bl1 and bl2 for the two versions in ms
British Library, Add ms 7840, r for al-Rzs Znat al-kataba, ib1 and ib2 for the versions
in Ibn Bds Umdat al-kuttb, m for al-Marrkus Kitb al-azhr, and q for al-Qalalss
Tuaf al-aw.

304 raggetti
vitriol bl1. red vitriol until the ink becomes black

bl2. red and yellow
R. 5 dirhams
ib1. 5 dirhams
ib2. 1 ounce (only if soaked in water)
m. 5 dirhams of good vitriol
Q. 5 dirhams of good vitriol
gum arabic bl1. 2 dirhams (ground or liquefied)
bl2. leave in it for brilliance
R. 10 dirhams
ib1. 9 dirhams
ib2. 1 and 1/2 ounce
m. 7 dirhams
Q. 7 dirhams
Processing
crush the gall nuts bl1.
bl2.
R.
ib1.
ib2.
m.
Q.
boil in water bl1. until 1/2 is gone (it does not seep through paper)
bl2. until 1/4 of the water is left
R. until 1/2 is gone
ib1. until 1/3 is gone
ib2. until 1/3 is gone (and it is like honey)
m. until 1/2 is gone, over a low fire
Q. until 1/2 is gone, over a low fire
filter bl1.
bl2.
R.
ib1.
ib2.
m.
Q.

leave in the sun bl1.

bl2. for some days
R. 1 day
ib1. 1 day
ib2. 1 day and 1 night, more even better (no sun, only maceration)
m. 1 or 2 days
Q. 1 day
Goal
black ink (general goal) bl1.
bl2.
R.
ib1. (for parchment)
ib2.
m. (for parchment and paper)
Q.
blackness bl1. by adding vitriol
bl2.
R. if it tends to red, add vitriol
ib1. increase with vitriol
ib2.
m. if it tends to red, add vitriol
Q. if it tends to red, add vitriol (proportional to blackness)
brilliance bl1.
bl2. protect it from dust
R. if it is opaque, add gum arabic
ib1.
ib2.
m. if it is opaque, add gum arabic
Q. if it is opaque, add gum arabic (proportional to brilliance)
The two versions of the recipe for black ink differ in the way in which cer-
tain ingredients are measured: the first has precise units of measure (dirham,
ral), whereas the second has relative measures (fractions measured against a
part). The first recipe also contains an empirical test to understand whether
the decoction of gall nuts is ready: it does not seep through the paper. These
remarks are a generative factor of variants and expansion of the text, perhaps
on the basis of empirical experiences. If these two variants are contrasted with
other versions of the same recipe from the technical handbooks on ink making,

306 raggetti
it emerges that the two versions represent different combinations of a fixed set
of elements (ingredients, quantities, and procedures)the functional core of
this recipeand allows it to be compared with structurally similar ones. In this
perspective, the problematic point at the beginning of the text concerning the
quantity of gall nuts (and the more general interest in contrasting two different
versions of the same recipe) can be explained. This is also a clue to the aware-
ness on the part of the copyist of the coexistence of variants in the tradition.
Beirut, American University, r 248, pp. 188194
The manuscript kept in the library of the American University in Beirut and
listed under the number 248 in rs catalogue contains a copy of the al-
Muqni f rasm al-Qurn composed by Ab Amr Umn ibn Sad al-Dn
(d. 444/1053),18 a work on the variants and the orthography of the Quran.
[Figs. 23] The copy is dated to 743/1342, by the hand of Ibrhm ibn Ayyb al-
Bals.19 The same copyist seems to be responsible for the seven pages with ink
recipes that immediately follow the end of the text. His hand is a bit uncertain
and irregular. The text is not very accurate, and technical terms almost always
represent a problematic issue for the copyist.20 There are fourteen rubricated
headings, but only twelve of them are actually followed by the description of a
procedure. The series of recipes is not left open; it is formally concluded with
the formula tamma wa-kamala bi-amd Allh.
Sections and Contents of ms Beirut aub, r 248, pp. 188194
1. Ornamental red ink

2 and 3. Two variants of the same recipe to prepare cinnabar ink, with and
without gallnuts
4. Ink for paper (non sequitur, see no. 7, below)
18 See al-Dn in ei2, vol. 2, pp. 109110 [1954], consulted online on 15 August 2016 http://
dx.doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_islam_SIM_1689; Umn Ibn-Sad al-Dn, al-Muqni f rasm
maif al-amr maa kitb al-nuqa. Al-Qhira: Maktabat al-Kullyt al-Azhariyya, 1978.
19 See Ysuf Q. r, al-Mat al-arabiyya al-mawda f maktabat al-mia al-Amrkiyya
f Bayrt. Beirut: Markaz al-Dirst al-Arabya wa-Dirst al-arq al-Awsa, al-mia al-
Amrikiyya f Bayrt, 1985, p. 96 (where the ink recipes are not mentioned).
20 For the misspelling involving a complex metathesis for the name zunufur (cinnabar), see
nos. 2, 3, and 7.

figure 2 ms Beirut (aub), r 248, p. 188. Small collection of recipes to prepare inks for
luxury copies, attached to a copy of al-Dns al-Muqni f rasm al-Qurn, a work on
Quranic variants and orthography. Incipit of the text with two recipes for red ink.

308 raggetti
figure 3 ms Beirut (aub), r 248, p. 189. Small collection of recipes to prepare inks for
luxury copies, attached to a copy of al-Dns al-Muqni f rasm al-Qurn, a work on
Quranic variants and orthography. Chrysography with gold leaf.

5. Golden writing, three different procedures

a. glue and gold leaf
b. solved gold
c. safflower extract (vegetal)
6. Lapis lazuli ink, it actually contains a discussion about some mineral
and vegetal dyeing substances, and a hint as to compound colours.
7. Cinnabar ink without gum arabic and vitriol (see no. 4, above)
8. Verdigris ink
9. Silver ink
10. Golden ink
11. A beautiful ink
12. Another ink (vitriol of Cyprus, myrtle leaves, aloe, pepper, rock
sugar)
13. Another ink (with vitriol of Cyprus)
14. Another ink (myrtle leaves and soda)
The inclusion of these recipes for precious and coloured inks and writing
techniques can be reasonably contextualized in the manuscript that transmits
them. In spite of some resistance expressed in certain scholarly circles about
the use of colours in manuscripts, rubricationand the production of Quranic
copies was a particular niche for the use of coloured inksbecame a standard
feature.21 The inclusion of these recipes by the same hand and with the same
lay-outand not as a later additiontells us that the copyist considered their
presence relevant also for the readership of al-Dns texts. In other words, a
reader interested in a technical treatise on Quranic orthography might profit
from having at hand an essential guide to the inks suitable for the production
of luxury copies.22 As for the readership, it is hard to know whether it consisted
only of this copyist (if we consider the recipes a personal annotation) or rather
of a larger group; it is even more difficult to describe the development of this
copys readership through the course of the centuries. The willful inclusion of
these recipes in a fourteenth century manuscript is a fact, the connection with
21 Adam Gacek, Arabic Manuscripts: A Vademecum for Readers. Leiden: Brill, 2009, p. 228.
22 For the co-presence of texts in a codex and the logic that brings them together, see Alessan-
dro Bausi, A Case for Multiple Text Manuscripts being Corpus-Organizers, Manuscript
Cultures-Newsletter No. 3. (2010), pp. 3435. The use of attributing a recipe to a famous
author, or to specify the most suitable writing support is largely attested in texts on ink
making. See Armin Schopen, Tinten und Tuschen des arabisch-islamischen Mittelaters.
DokumentationAnalyseRekonstruktion. Gttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2006;
Levey, Early Arabic Bookmaking; and Fani, Le arti del libro.

310 raggetti
the main text transmitted in the same manuscript is an interpretation built on

a solid ground, to divine from the text how long this association remained valid
or how widely it was perceived as useful is impossible.
One of the highlights of this text is its inclusion of three different indications
of how to obtain a golden writing, either by the direct use of gold, or by substi-
tutes that achieve similar results. The application of golden leaves with fish glue
is described in great detail; the possibility of using solved gold is simply men-
tioned; and the preparation of safflower ink is followed by a discussion of the
different shades of dark colours produced from a number of substances. No. 10
gives another recipe for preparing a metallic golden ink with vitriol. Chrysog-
raphy was one of the earliest concrete applications of procedures related to
Chrysopoeia already in earliest attestations of technical alchemy, and recipes
to write in gold are already included in the Greek alchemical papyri.23 Egypt
indeed represented a privileged space for the transmission of the technical
knowledge inherited from Hellenism into the Arabo-Islamic culture.24
No. 6 has a remark about the criteria of the selection of the contents. It
announces that there is no space for compound colours among those recipes.
This offers us an interesting insight into the philosophy of craftsmanship:
for certain preparations, the description of a procedure is not enough; here
an artistic gift and touch makes the difference. The formulation of the short
remark on compound colours may be a hint to a written source, since these
two recipe headings are not followed by any procedure.
23 See Marcellin Berthelot, Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, 3 vols. London: The Hol-
land Press, 1963, i p. 12 (ink recipe, mystical ink) and 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 51 (recipes
to write in golden and silver letters); Robert Halleux, Papyrus de Leyde. Papyrus de Stock-
holm. Fragments de recettes. Texte tabli et traduit par Robert Halleux, Paris: Les Belles
Lettres, 1981, pp. 4243 (introduction), pp. 83108 (Leiden Papyrus, recipes nos. 33, 34,
38, 44, 49, 51, 52, 53, 56, 60, 61, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 76, 77); and Andre Colinet, Lanonyme
de Zuretti ou L art sacr et divin de la chrysope par un anonyme. Texte tabli et tradui par
Andre Colinet. Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2000. For a more general introduction to the Hel-
lenistic sources, see Georgia L. Irby-Massie and Paul T. Keyser (eds.), Greek Science of the
Hellenistic Era: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge, 2002, pp. 251254; John W. Humphrey-
John P. Oleson-Andrew N. Sherwood (eds.), Greek and Roman Technology: A Sourcebook.
Annotated Translations of Greek and Latin Texts and Documents. London, New York: Rout-
ledge, 1998, p. 383; and Matteo Martelli, Alchemical textiles: colourful garments, recipes
and dyeing techniques, Greek and Roman Textiles and Dress. An Interdisciplinary Anthol-
ogy, M. Harlow and M.L. Nosch (eds). Oxford, Philadelphia: Oxbow Books, 2014, pp. 111129.
24 See Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 30.

Edition and Translation of ms Beirut aub, r 248, pp. 188194
1. Way to prepare an ornamental ink [ 188]
Take some yellow myrobalan, grind it, add 25

three ral of fresh water, put it in a casserole, 26
put it on the fire and let it cook slowly over a
low fire; and the sign that it is cooked is that
you can write with it on the parchment, and
the writing will be red.
Then add one quarter ral of pounded gum

arabic to it, and one ounce of vitriol, and stir
it gently; when the particles are dissolved,
take the gum and the vitriol, add them to this,
and squeeze it in the same way we have 27
described for the extract of the ink for paper.
Put it in a vessel and use it.
2. Way to prepare cinnabar ink 28
Pound the Iraqi cinnabar into a fine powder, 29

then wash it a number of times with fresh
water, until it is pure, then add some of the
water we have mentioned, from the extract of 30[ 189]
the ink for paper, put it in a receptacle and
use it.
25 ].
26 ].
27 ]Sign of uncertainty of the hand, embodied by the ambiguity between d
and l.
28 ( ]the only dot in the manuscript is that of the m). Already in Mediaeval
times, the possibility of misspelling was recognized and recorded, see Fabian Ks, Die
Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie. Eine Konkordanz zur mineralischen Mate-
ria Medica der klassischen arabischen Heilmittelkunde nebst berlieferungsgeschichtlichen
Studien, 2 Bnde. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2010, vol. ii pp. 677684, in particular p. 683
s.v. sunufr.
29 ].
30 ].

312 raggetti
3. Way to prepare cinnabar ink 31
Pound the Iraqi cinnabar into a fine powder, 33

then wash it for a number of times with fresh
water, until it is pure, then add some Syrian
gallnuts to it,32 and the description of the
extraction of the water is the one already
described.
4. Chapter: the ink for paper (ibr al-ki), 34

but this time without gum arabic and vitriol.
[non sequitur]
5. Chapter: way to prepare golden writing
a) If you want to write in gold, then prepare

white fish glue that puffs up quickly, cut it as 35
thin as possible, put it in fresh water for one
day and one night, until it becomes moist and
soft.
Once it has become moist, take it, beat it well,

until [the particles] have joined and become
soft.
31 ].
32 Al-Qalals describes this variety as unripened, black, and without holes, see Fani, Le arti
del libro, p. 224.
33 ].
34 ].
35 This word has no dot, and could therefore be given different reading (taasa, decay; or
nafasa, leak, let out air). I have chosen this reading, however, because Sara Fani pointed
out to me that gum arabic, if moistened, normally reacts by swelling and increasing its
volume. This kind of error could only originate in the context of a written transmis-
sion.

Then put it in a vessel and pour fresh water 36

on it, put it over a low fire, and it will melt;
once it has melted, add some ground saffron,
in an amount that may change its colour.

Then purify it with a clean linen cloth, and

write directly with it if the weather is warm;
whereas, if the weather is cold, the fire has to
be rekindled because it solidifies quickly.
When it has become solid, put it on the fire
until it becomes fluid.
When you have written with it what you [ 190]

want, take some pure red gold beaten into
thin leaves, and press it on the writing, but do
not wait long before doing this.
If the gold plunges during the operation

with the glue, then warm the gold on the 37
fire, remove the vitriol in order not to let it
become opaque to your detriment.
And when you have pressed it, leave it for two

days, and burnish it with the umhn 38
(hematite?) stone.
36 ].
37 ]Here abb stands for vitriol (z), this term may in general indicate the stones
from which vitriol is extracted.
38 ]al-Tf says that it is a reddish stone, found in iron mines. Antonio
Raineri, Fior di pensieri sulle pietre preziose di Ahmed Teifascite. Opera stampata nel suo
orginale arabo, colla traduzione italiana appresso e diverse note. Firenze: Tipografia Orien-
tale Mediceo-Laurenziana, 1818, pp. 57 and 112 suggests a volcanic stone without giving a
translation for the name; the German translation interprets it as roter Glaskopf, see Armin
Schopen & Karl W. Strau, Amad ibn Ysuf at-Tfs Buch der kniglichen Steine. Eine
Mineralienkunde fr die arabischen Herrscher des 7./13. Jahrhunderts. Eingeleitet, bersetzt
und mit Anmerkungen versehen von Armin Schopen und Karl W. Strau. Wiesbaden: Har-
rassowitz, 2014, pp. 135136. Abul Huda translates the entry in al-Brns treatise on stones
as hematite, see Samar Najm Abul Huda, Arab Roots of Gemmology. Ahmad ibn Yusuf al

314 raggetti
Then outline it in black with a suitable reed,

and there is nothing better than a hair brush
to do this, because it is more durable in its
mixing [with gold] and more flexible on the 39
overcoats, and prevents the gold from lifting
when it passes over it, and this is well known
to you
b) And if the gold is melted, then writing with

it is better than impressing it; gold, silver, iron,
and tin are the same in this.

c) As for the heart of the safflower, take an 40

exquisite mature heart of safflower, in the
peak of its first blossoming, pour on it one
quarter of its amount of wine vinegar and
sour pomegranate waterif it is available
prepare a vessel and pour in it some ground
gum arabic; remove every day the yellow
water that comes to its surface.
Tifashis Best Thoughts on the Best of Stones. Translated and with Commentary of Samar
Najm Abul Huda. London: The Scarecrow Press, 1998, pp. 162 and 239, suggesting a Greek
etymology for the name. The identification with hematite does not seem to be secure, even
when used in pharmacology, see Ks, Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie, i
pp. 559561. Hematite is mentioned with a different name in nr. 10 (ana or dana),
and it was one of the favourite stones for burnishers, see Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 217. Gacek
mentions jade and agate, see Gacek, Vademecum, p. 39. The Aya Sofyas recension of the
Ps. Aristotle On Stones (Aya Sofya 3610, ff. 15r16r) mentions other properties for this stone,
probably connected to the third name of the stone aar al-dam (blood stone): Descrip-
tion of the umhn stone: the stone is black, but the substance that comes out of it when
scratched is bright red. The one who engraves the figure of Aries and Mars on it and hangs
it on his body will be safe in war. This is an amulet for the sultans, and it protects from
jinns and demons.
If someone puts this stone under his tongue, and enters Seleucia-Ctesiphon (the
Cities) in the hour of Mars, then all the people who see him will love him, and men and
women will rejoice about his presence. If someone carries with him the iron umhn,
and walks between two persons who love each other, then they will start to hate each
other, and their friendship will be destroyed.
39 ]I read the elative form here, as parallel to the previous expression.
40 ].

And when there is no yellow water left, pour

it from the bottle into a paper filter, tight in 42[ 191] 41
the bottom and larger on the top, keep it in
this, and use it: and this is all there is to know
about it. The sun does not have to touch it,
since the sun washes it out.
Once it has become solid, make it into grains 43

with gum arabic, and it will become similar to
sumac.
And when you need some of it, moisten it

with vinegar and use it, and it is quite intense.
6. Way to prepare lapis lazuli ink 44
Take the sky-coloured ones among the lapis

lazuli, because they make it [the ink] black,
and the preparation with plants is better than
[the one with] gold, in the same ways in
which the safflowers heart becomes dark.
Likewise, if some saffron is mixed with it, 45

then [the ink] takes on the aspect of the
verdigris, and it is dark as well, but this would
need a long discussion and this is not the
place for it.
As for the compound colours, they are not

limited to the way of preparing them, but
they depend on the fine inclination of their
maker, so there is no purpose in mentioning
them here.
41 ].
42 ].
43 ].
44 ].
45 ].

316 raggetti
7. Way to prepare cinnabar ink
Grind the Iraqi cinnabar into a fine powder,

then wash it with fresh water a number of
times until it becomes yellow; pour some
Syrian safflower on it, and the way to extract
the water from it is the same way we have 46
mentioned about the ink for paper; with the
difference that this one has no gum arabic or
vitriol.
8. Way to prepare verdigris [ 192]
Take some Iraqi verdigris, grind it into a fine 47

powder, mix with it some ground saffron, and
make them join.
9. Way to prepare an ink (lqa)
Take four parts of white lead, melt it, add the

same quantity of quicksilver to it; when it is
mixed, pour it on the floor, and it will break
up into fragments. Then collect it into a
melting pot, pour some gum arabic on it, then
the contents will start to dissolve, and it will
become like water.
Then write with it on any surface you want,

and it will become like silver.
And if there is a black component in it, then )(

melt it another time, and it will become the
way you want it.
10. Golden ink
46 ].
47 ].

Take one part of qalqads (vitriol), the same 49 48

quantity of dissolved asbestos, and three parts 50
of honey; mix them in a long-necked bottle,
seal its opening with clay, and bury it in
manure for some days. Then take it out, purify
this by washing it, and it will turn out like
pure gold. Dilute it with gum arabic and
write with it. Then burnish it with hematite 51
(dana) burnisher.
11. Way to prepare of a beautiful ink
One ral of non-perforated Syrian gallnuts,

ground into a fine powder, pour a few ral 52
of water on it in a vessel, either glazed or
anointed with oil, cover it with a piece of

cloth [and leave it] in the sun both in summer
and in winter.
Purify it and boil it on a moderate fire until [ 193]

one third of it is goneor it is possible to
write with the boiled water and it will not
leak through in that moment, as long as it is
lukewarmfor this reason keep with you in a
vessel half or one third ounce of vitriol
already dissolved with lukewarm water.
48 ]It is possible that the corrupted form of the name is generated by a

confusion between qalqar and qalqads, synonyms for vitriol. See Siggel, Wrterbuch
der Stoffe, p. 86.
49 See Ks, Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie, vol. ii pp. 769777; and Siggel,
Wrterbuch der Stoffe, p. 84 (Marienglas).
50 ].
51 ]See Ks, Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie, vol. i pp. 461
462 (aar al-dam) and vol. ii pp. 719726 (dana, also ana or ana). For the
hematite burnisher, see Gacek, Vademecum, p. 39 and Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 217.
52 ] .

318 raggetti
And when you want to pour it on what you

have prepared, while it is still lukewarm,
remove the cloth, then put it back on the
fire until it boils once or twice, then let it
precipitate and pour it in a different bottle.
12. Another ink (ibr)
Take one ounce of gallnuts, one ounce of gum

arabic, three quarters ounce of vitriol of
Cyprus, grind each one into a fine powder,
and sieve them with a piece of cloth.
Then take the myrtle leaves, boil them on the

fire in a new pot, until their colour begins to
turn black.
Then leave it for one day and one night, until

its water returns [?].
Then take three dirhams of lantern soot and 54 53

mix it with the vitriol.
Then mix the gallnuts with gum arabic.
Then take rock salt, the same quantity of

pepper, aloe of Soqotra, the same quantity of
verdigris and rock candy; mix this with the
gallnuts and the gum arabic, putting them in
a mortar.
53 ].
54 ]First the copyist wrote z (vitriol), then corrected it by adding -n (
), the descending tail of the zy was accentuated, transforming it into a l, but the
tail of the final m betrays the whole operation. The dots could also not be rearranged so
easily.

Then pour myrtle water on it, until it takes

the consistency of ink. Then let it rest until it
has sedimented.
Then let it rest for six days in the sun in a [ 194]

bottle, then it is stored away, and it will be
amazing.
13. Another one
Take a few ounces of gallnuts, crush them

with one and a half ounce of white gum
arabic in a few ral of water, cook it until half
of it is left, let it precipitate, filter it; then
add the vitriol of Cyprus to it and the gum
arabicboth of them dissolvedthen filter,
leave it to rest for one day and one night, then
dry it, and store it away.
14. Another one
Take two ounces of gum arabic without water 55

until it is well dissolved, take the water of
soda, cook it with myrtle leaves; once you
have cooked the two, take one purified ral of
it, and throw one ounce of crushed gallnuts
on it.
Then boil it on the fire until it writes without

leaking; once it has become like this, let it
precipitate and purify it.
When it has cooled down, throw all the

dissolved gum arabic in it, then cook it for a
while longer.
55 ] .

320 raggetti
Finished and completed, in praise of God and

with His help.
Istanbul, Saray Ahmet iii 2068/1 (ff. 1r94v)
The third case presents two recipes included at the end of a copy of the Kitb al-
aw of Ab al-Al ibn Zuhr (d. 525/1131).56 This text is a collection of occult
(in the meaning of hidden) and peculiar properties of mineral, vegetal, and
animal simples, arranged in alphabetical order.57 Some of these substances,
in particular animals parts and fluids, raise the issue of Decknamen (cover
names). Were these ingredients meant literally, or were the filthy substances a
code name, whose interpretative key was known only to a restricted circle that
wanted to keep its knowledge secret? These systems of encoding knowledge
have a long history that begins in first millennium Babylonia, thus making a
straightforward and univocal answer on Decknamen impossible. A recent com-
parative study of the early transmission of these materials has provided a solid
philological example of how that key probably went missing in the transfer
from Babylonia to the Graeco-Roman World.58 If one particular key was lost,
new ones could be created, and the possibility that comparable systems were
developed independently in different areas and by different cultures cannot be
excluded. As far as I can tell from my readings, in the Arabic literature on the
science of properties, the literal and the secret interpretations coexist, although
the former prevails, while the latter seems to have left only rare clues.59
56 The codex includes two texts: the K. al-aw (ff. 1r94v) and the K. al-aiya (On
foodstuffs, ff. 95r152v).
57 Saray Ahmet iii 2068/1 is only one of the textual witnesses for this complex tradition, see
Lucia Raggetti, Tracing the Sources. A Rare Case of Explicit Scholarly Practice in an Arabic
Manuscript Tradition, COMSt News Letter 8 (2014), 2933. For the present article the focus
is just on this copy and relates to the presence of the two ink recipes after the end of the
text. A full collation of all the manuscripts might reveal the presence of a number of other
ink recipes. I do not believe, however, that the number of new findings in this particular
text would be much higher.
58 See Matteo Martelli and Maddalena Rumor, Near Eastern Origin of Graeco-Egyptian
Alchemy, Esoteric Knowledge in Antiquity, K. Geus and M.J. Geller (eds.). Berlin: Max
Planck-Institut fr Wissensgeschichte, 2014, pp. 3762.
59 Referring to Zosimos of Panopolis, Principe defines the Decknamen in this way: Zosi-
mos employs a technique that would become typical for alchemical authors: the use of
Decknamen, a German term meaning cover names. These Decknamen function as a kind
of code. Instead of using the common name for a substance, the alchemical writer sub-

The last entry of the letter y is followed by four additional paragraphs,

marked by a rubricated heading: to kill the insects, lapis lazuli ink (ifat amal
lzrad), silver ink (ifat midd fiat), and an incantation to be whispered in
the ears of an epileptic man. [Fig. 4] There are also other reasons to assume that
this manuscript transmits a very inclusive recension and that the presence, in
this position, of these apparently unrelated materials is part of this tendency.
Saray Ahmet iii 2068, f. 94v
Way to prepare the lapis lazuli (ink)
Write with pure lapis lazuli reduced into a

fine and thin powder, and wash it with
scorpion water.60
Then leave it for one hour.
Then filter the turbid water, put it on the fire

and dry it; crush it, pour water on it, and
purify it until no heavy particle emerges.

stitutes another wordusually one that has some link, literal or metaphorical, with the
substance intended. [] Decknamen serve a dual purpose: they maintain secrecy, but they
also allow for discrete communication among those having the knowledge or the intel-
ligence to decipher the system. They simultaneously conceal and reveal. Consequently,
Decknamen have to be logical, not arbitrary, so that they can be deciphered. If Deckna-
men could not be deciphered by readers, then total secrecy would be the result; and if
the intent were to conceal information entirely, it would be far simpler for alchemists to
have written nothing at all. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 18. For some examples in
the Arabic tradition, see Alfred Siggel, Decknamen in der arabischen alchemistischen Liter-
atur. Berlin: Akademie Verlag, 1951. In one of the copies of the book on planetary engraved
seals attributed to Urid ibn Muammad preserved in the manuscript Paris, BnF, Ar 2775
(f. 108v) the text reads: And place under the stone the tongue of a black bird known as the
diving loon that can be found near the water, that is a medicinal plant called scorpion
(aqrab). The context is the making of the talisman for Mars, where a vegetal element has
to be placed between the stone and the bezel.
60 In this case, the animal name could be an alchemical Deckname for antimony, see Siggel
Decknamen, p. 45.

322 raggetti
figure 4 ms Istanbul, Saray Ahmet iii 2068, f. 94v. Two recipes, attached to the Kitb
al-aw of Ab al-Al ibn Zuhr, one for a blue, the other for a silver ink.

Then let precipitate the water that you have

filtered from it, after [the removal of] its
heavy particles.
Once the water is purified by filtering it, then

the lapis lazuli will remain flabby and soft like
foam.
Leave it in a bottle with gum arabic water and

write with it: it will not fade.
Way to prepare a silver ink (midd fiat)
To write with it, pound quicksilver with

vinegar, egg white, vitriol, aloe, and light a fire 61
under it for one hour
Then leave it in a stone mortar, melt it with

fish glue and write with it.
In trying to understand the link between these recipes and the text with which
they travelled, one has to turn to the contents of the aw. Among dozens of
simples and hundreds of properties, only one entry actually describes an ink: a
red ochre (mara) that can be prepared with sand and honey, then mixed with
ink (midd), in order to obtain the effect of the writing engraved (manq) on
the page.62
Red ochre (Mara, ff. 82v83r)
61 ? ]aloe.
62 The recipe for an ink that appears to be written in relief is the last of the three preparations
associated with the red ochre. The first one describes the preparation of a fireproof
ointment, while the second tells of the Coptic tradition of making a dough with it on the
first day of the month of Barmdah (9 April8 May), and shaping figurines of scorpions,
snakes and other vermin with it, which would protect against the real ones from entering
the house. For another use of this red clay for inks, see below al-Zarr, recipe no. 118.

324 raggetti
Mix it with sand, boil it with cane honey until

it starts to thicken, and dry it
Then grind it with some ink (midd)it must

be one quarter of its amountmelt it on the
fire; then write in the different pen styles,
fumigate it with sulphur, and (the script) will
come out as if it were engraved.
This Kitb al-aw is part of the Arabic literature on the science of properties
(manfi and aw).63 Other works from the same textual genre allow us
verify whether the scarcity of ink was an exception or the rule. In theory, in this
kind of texta list of simples and their special properties, open to additions
and rearrangementsthere are a number of entries dedicated to elements that
might well work as ingredients for inks (lapis lazuli, gold, silver, gallnut, etc.).
One of the first original compositions in Arabic on the useful properties of
the parts of animals (Kitb manfi min a al-ayawn) written by the Syriac
physician s ibn Al in the 3rd/9th century presents a similar situation. The
only ink mentioned has tortoise gall as its characteristic ingredient, with the
result that it is invisible in daylight, while it glows in the dark.64 The same
invisible ink is also mentioned by al-Rz in his Znat al-kataba,65 which served
as a source for al-Qalals.66
63 For the pseudo-Democritean tradition as a source for the science of properties, see Jack-
son P. Hershbell, Democritus and the Beginning of Greek Alchemy, Ambix 34 (1987),
pp. 520; Manfred Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften im Islam. Leiden,
Boston: Brill, 1972, pp. 10 and 159160; Renato Laurenti, La questione Bolo-Democrito,
Latomo fra scienza e letteratura, Genova: Universit di Genova. Istituto di filologia clas-
sica e medieval, 1985, 75106; and Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, p. 12. For a description
of the contents and the history of the science of properties in Arabic, see Lucia Raggetti,
The Science of Properties and its Transmission; and Lucia Raggetti, s ibn Al. Kitb al-
Manfi allat tustafdu min a al-ayawn. The Book of Useful Properties Obtained from
the Parts of Animals. Introduction, Edition and Translation, Introduction (forthcoming).
64 See Raggetti, Kitb al-manfi, nr. 100.13(a).
65 Al-Rz, Znat al-kataba, p. 226 nr. 40; see also Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 48. Tortoise gall
is mentioned as an ingredient for inks in the Greek alchemical papyri, see Berthelot,
Alchimistes grecs, p. 38.
66 See al-Qalals, Tuaf Al-Jaw, p. 36; and Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 153.

If you write something with tortoise gall on a

sheet of papyrus, the writing will be visible in
the night without the help of a lantern.
In another of his short treatises, Kitb al-aw (Book of the occult proper-
ties),67 al-Rz confirms the trend and only one ink recipe is attested: anything
written with curcuma on yellow silk will remain invisible, until the silk is soaked
in lime water.68
Dr al-Kutub, ibb Taymr 264, p. 22
Curcuma: if one writes with the water of the

curcuma on yellow silk, then (the writing)
cannot be read. When the moment at which it
is needed comes, soak it in the maceration
water of lime: all the writing will emerge, and .
this is true and tried out.
The pseudo-Aristotelian Kitb al-ar (Book of stones), probably composed

around the 4/10th century, is another early representative of the science of
properties.69 Each entry describes a stone or a metal and its varieties, details
the places where it can be found or mined, and eventually lists its medical and
technical properties. In the introduction of ms Paris BnF Arabe 2772, the book
67 Cairo, Dr al-Kutub, ibb Taymur 264, pp. 122. See Ullmann, Die Natur- und Geheimwis-
senschaften, p. 407; and Ks, Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie, i pp. 3437.
In the introduction al-Rz gives one of the rare explicit theoretical explanations of the
aw: those properties for which the causal relation between the substance and its ben-
eficial effect remains unknown. Learned men, nevertheless, are allowed and advised in
order to exploit the advantageous possibilities. See Dr al-Kutub, ibb Taymur 264, pp. 1
5.
68 For a similar preparation, see al-Qalals, Tuaf Al-Jaw, p. 36; Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 153;
and al-Zarr recipe nr. 116 below.
69 The text was edited and translated into German by Julius Ruska, on the basis of one
manuscript, Paris BnF Arabe 2772 (Istanbul ehid Ali 1840 and Cairo, Dr al-Kutub, Taymr
abiyyt 60 transmit a similar version), see Julius Ruska, Das Steinbuch des Aristoteles mit
literargeschichtlichen Untersuchungen nach der arabischen Handschrift der Bibliothque
Nationale. Heidelberg: Carl Winters Universittsbuchhandlung, 1912. The materials pre-
sented in this paper come from the different and more inclusive recension preserved in
Aya Sofya 3610. For a general description of the contents of this work, see Ullmann, Die
Natur- und Geheimwissenschaften, pp. 105110.

326 raggetti
is explicitly addressed to two different groups of learned men: the craftsmen

(probably those dealing with technical alchemy and talisman making), and
the physicians who use stones and minerals in their medical preparations.70
ms Istanbul Aya Sofya 3610 includes roughly one hundred and twenty entries,
but only two of them contain remarks about inks and the arts of the book: the
pumice used to abrade the surface of parchment, and a generic reference to
cinnabar as an ingredient for red inks.
Pumice, that is meerschaum, that is al-banl [ r93]
If a written surface of parchment leaves is

rubbed with it, the writing will be erased.
70 The introduction of ms Paris Arabe 2772 reads: Aristotles book of stones, translated by
Lq Son of Serapion. The translator (mufassir) of this book says: Aristotle in his book in
which the stones, their substances, their colours, their varieties are described, included
seven hundred stones, that were known to the men of science and knowledge, but also to
the specialists of arts and crafts, who, however, are interested only in that variety (of stone)
or craft that is of their immediate concern, and so the greatest part of the knowledge about
stones generally remains unknown to people. So when I saw that no one from any class
of people knew what we have described and illustrated in this book of oursthat is a
commentary (ar) of the seven hundred stones, then I decided to make an abridgement
of what could be useful to the people. So I explained their descriptions in this book, which
is addressed to two different categories of learned men: the first includes those who deal
with the (alchemical) craft, the second with the different medical teachings about the use
of stones as simple drugs. See Ruska, Steinbuch, p. 93 (Arabic text) and p. 126 (German
translation). Aya Sofya 3610 (1v4r) has a different introduction, which makes no mention
of professional categories as a privileged readership: I put together in this book of mine
many writings on stones from a number of books, and everything that is described in the
discourse of the Light of science, Aristotle the Wise, who took from the book of Hermes
the Wise, who said that the stones on earth are much more than what can be described or
encompassed by a science. And indeed among those, there are precious stones, stones
that sharpen the mind, stones with a spirit, and stones with a body. I described their
substances, their properties, their colours, their varieties, their bodies, their mines, their
formation, the manipulation of their colours, the effects of their influence. So the one who
reads in this book of mine has to consider it with his rational mind; not make fun of it, but
consider it as a treasure.

It purifies the teeth, and strengthens their

nerves, it is useful in eye salves against the [ v93]
leucoma, but one should not apply it pure on
the eye, because its nature is cold, and its
texture light.
It is also useful for dyeing, metallurgy, and

other things.71
Cinnabar [ r114]
Sometimes it is said, by those that produce it, [ r115]

that it is a dangerous substance; it is used to
make the ointments and inks (liyaq) used for
writing.72
References to inks and writing in the literature on properties, though sporadi-

cally attested, offer interesting examples of the use of this material outside the
restricted circle of specialized treatises in the early centuries of the Islamic civ-
ilization.
The literature on manfi and aw found its way into collections of mirabilia,
witty anecdotes, and encyclopedias.73 But what happened to ink recipes in later
stages of Islamic history and literature? This vein of ink re-emerges in Mamluk
71 Aya Sofya 3610, ff. 93r93vr. The text of ms Paris Arabe 2772 reads: Pumice: it is a stone
of the sea, it has a light and rarefied body, and so it floats on the water. In Sicily there is
a white variety, and sometimes it is called meerschaum (zubd al-bar). If skins (uld)
are scratched with it, then this abrades them, people use it to get clean, it is added to
eye salves, and iron-gall and carbon inks (al-ibr wa-l-midd). It uproots the glaucoma
especially from the eye of animals. If it is used to prepare an eye salve with honey and not
pure, then it causes the greatest damage. See Ruska, Steinbuch, p. 120.
72 Aya Sofya 3610, f. 115r. The text of Paris 2772 says: Cinnabar: quicksilver, if it is cooked in
glass with sulphur, and the opening of the vessel is closed, so that it cannot evaporate, it
turns red and becomes cinnabar. If the glass splinters and sprinkles the body of a man,
then he will become a leper. It is included in ointments for wounds, and dyers use it for
their craft with old wine, and in a lot of solutions with oil. But if they do not protect
themselves from it, this will kill them and damage their brain. See Ruska, Steinbuch,
pp. 124125.
73 For this idea about the literary history of the science of properties, see Raggetti, The
Science of Properties and its Transmission; and the Kitb al-Manfi by the same author.

328 raggetti
technical handbooks. In order to open these sources to a larger readership, this

paper includes an English translation of two different technical handbooks
from the 9th/15th and 10th/16th centuries: the Kitb zahr al-bastn of al-
Zarr,74 and the Kitb al-num al-riqt of al-asan al-Dimaq.75
al-Zarr on Ink Making
Al-Maqrz mentions Muammad ibn Ab Bakr al-Zarr, who was an old per-
sonal acquaintance of his, since they had been together on a military campaign.
Al-Zarr was one of the Ban Ssn, the varied underworld in the Mediae-
val Egyptian metropolis made up of herbalists, medical practitioners, street
healers, fortune tellers, diviners, illusionists, magicians, and beggars.76 He was
specialized in poetry and curious stories, he could perform rare tricks, and he
was also expert in many crafts.77 Al-Zarr probably composed the Kitb zahr
al-bastn at the beginning of the 9th/15th century, collecting in ten chapters a
great variety of tricks for street magicians and illusionists based on a wide range
74 Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur. (Weimar: Emil Felber), 1898
1902, vol. ii (1902), p. 174; Muammad ibn Ab Bakr al-Zarr, Zahr al-Bastn f Ilm
al-Mashshtn. Gardens Flowers on Sleight of Hand Knowledge. A rare Medieval Islamic text
on Technology and Crafts. Edited and studied by Lutfallah Gari. Cairo (Maktabat al-Imm al-
Bur), 2012; Luf Allh al-Qr, al-Kutub al-Turiyya f-l-int al-Kmiyiyya, Nu
Ndira min al-Tur al-Ilm. Ed. Luf Allh al-Qr. Cairo: Maktabat al-Imm al-Bur,
1433/2012, pp. 335385, see p. 265; see also Petra G. Schmidl, Two Early Arabic Sources on
the Magnetic Compass, Journal of Arabic and Islamic Studies 1 (19971998), pp. 81132.
75 Carl Brockelmann, Geschichte der arabischen Litteratur, S. ii Leiden: Brill, 1938, p. 485;
Muammad ibn Ab al-ayr al-asan al-Dimaq, Kitb al-num al-riqt f ikr ba al-
ani al-mut ilayh f ilm al-mqt. Aleppo: Mabaat Muammad Rib al-Ilmiyya,
1928. Levey used a copy kept in the Yale University Library as a comparandum for Ibn
Bds, see Levey, Early Arabic Bookmaking, p. 7.
76 See Clifford E. Bosworth. The Mediaeval Islamic Underworld: The Banu Sasan in Arabic
Society and Literature, 2 vols. Leiden: Brill, 1976; Stefan Wild, Jugglers and fraudulent sufis,
Proceedings of the vith Congress of Arabic and Islamic Studies, Leiden: Brill, 1975, pp. 58
63; and Stefan Wild, A Jugglers Programme in Medieval Islam, Actes du 8me Congres de
l Union des arabisants et islamisants, Aix-en-Provence: Edisud, 1978, pp. 353359.
77 He was not spared a remark about the lack of cleanliness of its garments by the great
Mamluk historian, see al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, pp. 920. See also Robert Irwin, The
Arabian Nights: A Companion. London: The Penguin Press, 1994, p. 133; and Robert Irwin,
Futuwwa: Chivalry and Gangsterism in Medieval Cairo, Muqarnas 21 (2004), pp. 161
170, in particular p. 168.

of technical knowledge.78 This genre must have been quite popular, and several
other titles can be included in it, among which the Mutr f kaf al-asrr by
al-awbar (7/13th cent.) is by far the most renowned.79
The eighth chapter deals with inks and dyes, and it is divided into twenty
paragraphs (111123 Invisible inks, or better inks that appear on the writing
surface under particular circumstances; 124 Golden ink; 125 Abrasive paste for
parchment; 126127 Illusionist tricks; 128129 Writing on stone and metal; 130
Dyes to prepare coloured leaves).80 The result of each procedure is announced
right after the title of the section, and is followed by a detailed explanation
of what has to be done in order to obtain that goal. These indications are
particularly rich in details when the creation of an illusion is involved. The
core of specialized technical knowledge required to perform these tricks is the
same that underlies the recipes included in specialized treatises on ink-making.
The different contexts of application stimulated the search for new and always
more wondrous effects for inks and colours, so as to attract the attention of the
passersby and possibly tap some of their money.81
Chapter EightOn inks (liyaq) and dyes (ab)

111. Yellow, turning it black with ammoniac.
And if you want red, with onion. Then let the leaf and the writing dry
up. There is no doubt about it, and so learn this.
112. Description of the fire ink (lqa nriyya)
Take a sheet and write on it with lemon juice, boil it on the fire and the
writing will emerge, so learn this.
113. Description of the water ink
78 This is the table of contents of the book: 1. Simulacra and figurines; 2. Cups and bottles;
3. Pots and balls; 4. Prestidigitation tricks; 5. Eggs, chests, seals, and other; 6. Lamps and
lanterns; 7. Glues, adhesive, and what is included in this group; 8. Inks and dyes; 9. On
different crafts (prestidigitation with the craftsmen and the troubles for them, weights
and scales, ballistics); 10. Ways of the Ban Ssn and their different activities.
79 See Manuela Hglmeier, Al-awbar und sein Kaf al-asrrein Sittenbild des Gauners
im arabisch-islamischen Mittelalter (7/13. Jahrhundert). Berlin: Klaus Schwarz Verlag, 2006.
This text does not give instructions to learn the tricks. On the contrary, its aim is to teach
how to recognize and avoid tricksters. Al-Qr in the introduction to his edition lists six
titles for this literary genre, see al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, pp. 1719.
80 I have followed the numbers given to the paragraphs in the edition, see al-Zarr, Zahr
al-bastn, pp. 139146.
81 For some of the procedures it is possible to consider a commercial application as well.
Coloured leaves and techniques to write on stone and metals, for instance, could have
found a market beyond the gullible citizens of Mediaeval Cairo.

330 raggetti
Take some Yemeni alum, grind it, and dissolve it in vinegar; write with
it and leave it until it has dried out, so understand this.
114. Description of the dust (turb) ink
Take some scalded almonds and pound them finely; curdle it with
water and write with it on sheets; leave it until it has dried up; cover it
with a powder, and then the writing will take on the colour of the powder,
as if it were its own colour.
115. Description of black vitriol ink
Take some gallnuts, crush them and soak them in water. Write with
these on a leaf, leave it until it dries. Then take good quality vitriol of
Cyprus, crush it into a fine powder, dissolve it in water, immerse the leaf
in this (solution), and then the writing will appear black.
116. Description of the royal ink (lqa sulniyya)
This ink is a singular example. Its description: the leaf has to be dyed
yellow with saffron. When you put it in water, a red writing that has no
equal will appear on it. Way to prepare it: take the curcuma in powder and
write with it on the leaf dyed in yellow that I have mentioned before. Put
in the water some alkali82 in form of powder. When the leaf is immersed
in it, its writing will turn red.83
117. Description of the golden, silver, copper, and lead ink
Each metal is rubbed on it [the writing], and this takes its colour. Way
to prepare it: take a black touchstone, crush it into a fine powder, mix it
with gum arabic, and write with it. When it has dried, burnish it with gold,
and the writing will turn golden; or with silver, and it will become silver;
or with any metal you want, and the writing will take its colour. So learn
this.
118. Description of another ink
And it is so that, if you immerse the white leaf in red ochre (mara)
dissolved in water, then the writing will turn red, and the red ochre will
not stick to the leaf, and the back ground surface of the leaf remains white.
Way to prepare it: write on the leaf with egg white, put the leaf in the red
clay, and the writing will appear red. So understand this.
119. Description of the writing on water
Take a bowl, a drinking cup, or whatever receptacle you want, fill
it with water, take the inkwell and the pen, and write with them on
82 al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, p. 140, Here the edition has qall masq, but I assume that the
correct reading here is qal masq, with reference to the alkali as reagent that makes the
red writing emerge.
83 See above the short passage from al-Rzs Kitb al-aw.

whatever surface that you want, then the water will not turn black and
the writing will not sink or dissolve into it, since these things are like
this.
Know that this method is rare, and only a few people know about it.
And the way to realize it is to take borax and pure white natronthat is
the bestand crush it into a fine powder. Then knead it with oil, make it
in small discs, of five dirhams each. And when you want to do this [trick],
take one of them and dissolve it in waterI mean one of these discs
and write on the water.
120. Description of another singular ink (lqa arba)
Take a white sheet, a pen sharpened with a new nib, and white water;84
write with it and the writing will appear black as ink (ibr). You need to
have vitriol and crushed gallnuts with you, and pour them onto the sheet.
121. Description of the white quicksilver ink
Take some alkali, add four dirhams of quicksilver to it, crush it well, add
one part of gum arabic to it and write with it until it dries; polish it with
a piece of cloth, and then the writing will appear like white silver, and so
learn this.
122. Description of another similar ink
Take an egg and open its top, take the yolk out and put the albumen
back. Take eight dirhams of quicksilver, four dirhams of tin, and a bit of
gum arabic. Seal the opening and bury it in manure for forty days, then
take it out and write with it.
123. Description of the iron ink
Write as much as you want, then pour as much coloured powder on it as
you want, and then the colour of the powder will appear [on the writing].
The way to make it is to write on the palm of your hand with lemon juice,
or with syrup, or with goat milk, or what whatever liquid you want. Then
leave it until it dries, and pour the powder on it.
124. Description of a yellow ink similar to gold
Take some yellow Kakaw arsenic, crush it into a fine powder in a
stone mortar. Pour on it one fifth of its amount of saffron, and pound it
with pure gum arabic water, and pour the water and the ink through the
wool.
125. Another singular preparation, to erase the writing from parch-
ments (daftir) and other surfaces
84 The editor of the Arabic text suggests it should be read as clear or transparent water, see
al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, p. 141 n. 2.

332 raggetti
Take alum, onion, and sulphur in equal parts, crush them all, moisten
with vinegar until it takes on the consistency of an ointment; form it into
the shape of an acorn, rub it on the writing, and this will erase it.
126. Description of another good preparation
Take the arm [of whomever] you want, write his name with your saliva,
impress it on his hand, turn his hand, and his name will appear written in
black similar to ink. The way of making it is to take a red potsherd, writing
on it the name upside down with charcoal, and then covering it with your
hand.
127. Description of the way to read from behind your back
Know that this is one of the wondrous inventions. This consists of the
fact that whatever is written for you, you will be able to read it from behind
your back.
The way of doing it: take a small square leaf, tell the one who writes for
you to write whatever they want. When the leaf has dried, lay another leaf
of the same size over it. Then take camphor/blue gum with the two leaves,
detach the two leaves behind your back, the first one with your nails, and
since the writing is engraved, feel for the engraved leaf. Your left hand has
to be behind your back, so that the one who is looking at this will think
that it [the hand] is written. And so learn this.85
128. Description of a tried out ink that writes on stones
Take a stone to write on with the wax you prefer, plunge it into hot
water and purify it (the water). Take Yemeni alum, ammoniac, and wine
vinegar. If you want to obtain an engraved inscription, coat the back
ground surface with the wax. If, instead, you want the background surface
to be engraved, then coat the writing with the wax. Leave it in the water
mentioned above. And learn this.
129. Description of another ink that writes on yellow tin, and this
becomes white like a plated inscription (al-mukaffa), when it (the ink)
is wiped away
85 Here the editor adds a footnote with a flavour of precursionism: Here an intuition that
anticipated the writing in relief for blind men. Before this book, there was no other text
at all on this topic. Al-afad told in the Nakt al-himyn f nukat al-umyn (Biographies
of blind men, 207208) that the ay Al ibn Amad al-mid (d. 714 ca.) became blind
in his last years. He used to make pieces of paper with one or two letters in relief indi-
cating the price of one of his books, then he glued the pieces of paper on the book, on
the outside of the binding. And when he wanted to recollect the price of a particular
book, he felt with his touch the writing in relief. See al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, p. 143
n. 8.

The way of making it is to write on the tin with alkali and lime dissolved
in water. So learn this.
130. Description of different dyes for coloured leaves
As for the blue colour, it is related to smithery, its name among the
physicians is heliotrope (miryma),86 and this is an herb that grows in
the season of melons, it has dust coloured leaves, the seed is bigger than
a chick pea, with no shell (bunduqa), and it is divided in three parts.
As for the way of preparing it: crush it in a pail of red clay, then rub
it when they are fresh, so that the green integument is removed and the
white seed remains. The fresh juice remains green from the juice of the
seed. When the fresh juice becomes green and its colour satisfies you,
only the fumigation is left to make it become blue. For the fumigation
take green sulphur, boil it in water, and put the water in a vessel. Suspend
the fresh juice on the surface of the water, so that it does not come into in
contact with it. Cover this and the water for one day and one night. Then
remove the cover and you will find it blue.
This is the way of preparing it with the fresh juice, so understand it. As
for the dyeing of the leaves, for this you have to take the fresh juice, boil
it with water, squeeze its juice in a clean vessel until the intensity of the
blue satisfies you. Then soak the leaf in it, and leave it until it has dried.
Then burnish it and it will be excellent.
As for the beautiful oil-like yellow colour, if you want this dye, change
it from the mentioned blue [into yellow] with pure saffron, until you have
obtained a colour that pleases you.
If you want a violet dye, temper the blue with the red of lac, until you
have obtained a colour that pleases you.
As for the red dye, it is made with dissolved lac, and this is the apogee
of beauty and colour.
As for the wood-like and the dark wine colour (purple red), it is made
with burnt Sappan wood,87 and this is the apogee of beauty.
As for the young crop green dye, it is made with verdigris and saffron;
temper it until you have obtained a colour that pleases you.
As for the yellow dye, it is made with saffron and lemon.
86 Armenag K. Bedevian, Illustrated Polyglottic Dictionary of Plant Names (In Latin, Arabic,
Armenian, English, French, German, Italian and Turkish languages). Cairo: Madbouli, 1994,
p. 311 (Heliotropium europaeum). The editor of the text specifies that this plant name is a
Syriac loanword, see al-Zarr, Zahr al-bastn, p. 144 n. 8.
87 Wood from India or South East Asia used for dyes, see Fani, Le arti del libro, p. 201.

334 raggetti
And for all of them: leave them [the leaves] in water, let them dry,
burnish them, and this will be the best, so understand it.
al-Dimaq on Ink Making
The only information about Muammad ibn Ab al-ayr al-asan al-Dimaq

is that in the 10th/16th century he wrote the Kitb al-Num al-riqt, a techni-
cal manual on several aspects of different crafts: processing of substances (mas-
tic, sandarac, oils, lac, safflower, fish glue); metallurgy (preparation of casts,
making of swords, colouration of metals); colours and dyeing techniques (sil-
ver, gold, ebony, horns, woods), the powers of the magnet. Chapters 1113 focus
on black and coloured inks, and on the preparation of their basic components
(soot and gum arabic). The description of the procedure is highly detailed and
explained in a didactic way. This attitude is also mirrored in the structure of the
recipes: the last element of a sentence becomes the first of the following one.
Chapter 11On the preparation of powder and the solution of gum arabic
with which all colours are mixed. Mention of the things that pertain to the
improvement of ink (ibr) and other colours, in two sections.
Section 1. On the preparation of the soot, the elimination of its grease,
and its washing.
As for the preparation of the soot (hibb), the best type is the hot soot
of oil, or, alternatively the soot of asphalt. Description of its preparation:
take any hot old oil that is available to you, pour it into a lantern for the
night, and cover the lantern with a vessel, one span large and one arm
high. Then take its powder, and this is excellent.
As for the asphalt, dissolve it, put it into a lantern, and this, in turn,
onto a fire burning high; insert a wick into it and light it, with the vessel
mentioned before covering it. And then the soot will go up into the vessel,
and God knows best.
As for the elimination of its grease, take the soot you have collected, put
it into a receptacle, pound it into a paste, and put it into the oven until the
paste is burnt. Take it out of the oven, wait until it has cooled, then take
the soot and put it into a copper bowl, roast it on the fire until an oil smell
emanates from it. By the time the oil smell comes out of it, the roasting
must be over, and God knows best.
As for the washing: take as much roasted soot as you want, put it in a
stone mortar and crush it until it has become a fine powder. Add a bit of

gum arabic to it, make it compact, let it dry in the shade, and use it when
you need it. If you need it for the thickening process, put one piece of it
in a shell, add gum arabic in solution, and wait until it has dissolved. Take
some of it with a pen, and do with it whatever you want. And if you put a
piece of it in the inkwell, this will increase the blackness [of the ink], and
God knows best.
As for the solution of gum arabic: take one part of gum arabic, pound
it, sieve it, moisten it with three times its measure of fresh water, put it in
a glass vessel, whose opening has been sealed, paying attention that no
water can evaporate in the air. Then hang it in the sun for an entire day.
Then shake it until the components have mixed well, and use it when you
need it, and God knows best.
Section 2.
Take a piece of frankincense, crush it into a fine powder, put it in a piece
of cloth, and this in turn inside the best ink, then the cloth will give it a
wonderful perfume.
Know that vinegar improves the colour of the ink, like the juice of
unripened and sour grapes, and like myrtle juice. And know that water
coagulates ink. As for the other colours: rose water gives it a pleasant
smell, while the water made with alkali, alum, and gum arabic improves
its colour. Its preparation: take two parts of alkali salt, half part of Yemeni
alum, and the same amount of strong/curled (al-muaqrab) gum arabic.
Then pound everything extremely fine, mixing the components in the
process, and divide the mixture in three parts. Then take four parts of new
vinegar, add one part of the crushed mixture to it, and wait until it has
dissolved in the vinegar. When it has dissolved, put it on the fire until it
boils, then remove it from the fire, wait until it has cooled, and remove
the impurities. Then pour it into a small receptacle, add the second part
of the mixture and repeat the operation described before. Then add the
third part and repeat the operation again, and pour it into a vessel for the
moment when you need it.
As for the yellow, rose water in which a bit of saffron has been dis-
solved, this improves it, and gives it a pleasant smell. Likewise, the green
extracted from verdigris. As for the green extracted from verdigris, rose
water gives it a good smell, and also the water extracted from vinegar,
oxide of copper (rsut), eagle,88 gum arabic, and saffron.
88 In this case, the animals name could be an alchemical Deckname for Salmiak (sal ammo-
niacus), see Siggel, Decknamen, p. 45.

336 raggetti
Its description: take two ounces of ammoniac, one ounce of oxide of

copper (rsut),89 half ounce of gum arabic, and half dirham of saffron.
Then pound everything in a stone mortar, and keep doing this until all the
stuffs have dissolved in the vinegar, or just a little bit of them is left. Then
collect it, and use it when you need it. As for the lapis lazuli colour and
the white, rose water improves both of them, and gives them a pleasant
smell.
(Warning) Be aware that the juice of tamarind spoils ink, when it is
added to it, and that the pen cannot catch anything of it, and God knows
best.
Chapter 12On the knowledge of the charm of the painting sub-
stances (taqyd al-dihn)
when you write or ornament with gold, or silver, or other similar stuffs.
Its preparation: take some thick dissolved sandarac, add to it the same
quantity of pure asphalt oil, and smear it on the writing two or three times.
Then, if it is put in the water for some days, the writing will not fade and
will not be erased; and the ancients determined this way of dyeing. Red
sandarac is better.
(Warning) To distinguish between good and bad asphalt oil, take some
carats of the white (al-abya),90 let the asphalt oil fall in drops on it, and
leave it in the sun. Observe it and, if it leaves a visible trace, then it is a bad
mixture. So guard yourself from using it, because it will spoil everything
you do. If instead it does not [leave trace], then it is a good one. So put it
in a glass vessel, and protect it from the dust by covering it with a piece
of fig of arafand, or with something sweet from which it comes, and God
knows best.
Chapter 13On some inks (al-middt)
Ink: If you write with this on gold or silver, and bring it close to the fire,
then the writing will appear green, as if it were verdigris. Its preparation:
one part of verdigris, the same amount of quicksilver, pound them well
with child urine, and then write with it.
Another ink: when you write with it on copper, then the writing will
appear as if it were silver. Its preparation: pound quicksilver with the
water of eggplant milk, and write with it.
89 See Siggel, Wrterbuch der Stoffe, p. 80. It could also be interpreted, however, as antimony
or native cinnabar.
90 In this case, the animals name could be an alchemical Deckname for tin or quicksilver,
see Siggel, Decknamen, p. 33. In this case, I read it as tin, since the text mentions a surface
on which bad asphalt oil leaves traces.

Another ink: when you write with it on vessels of lead, or silver, or gold,
or copper, or tin, and when the writing has dried you wipe the writing with
a rag of linen wool, it will look shiny black. Its preparation: take verdigris,
r [?], and ammoniac, cook them with eggplant water until it is reduced
to one third.
Another ink: when you write with it on iron or washed steel, then the
writing will appear as if it were silver. Its description: take one part of
water stone,91 crush it as fine as antimony powder, mix it with good oil,
write with it on iron or steel, and let it dry. Then put it on a low fire until
the writing has become lighter and has acquired the colour of iron, and
wait until it has cooled. Scratch off the incrustation from it, and what is
underneath will appear like silver.
Another ink: when you write with it, the writing will appear only at
night by writing on paper with milk and ammoniac, and then the writing
will appear during the night, and will be concealed during the day.
Ink: If you write with it, and bring it close to the fire, then the writing
will appear red: and this is fig milk.
[Use] Soak gum ammoniac and frankincense, and write with it. Then
fumigate it, make it scaly with frankincense bark or with wheat bran, and
paste it (on the leaf) for one hour, then the writing will appear.
[Use] Golden writing: crush some sarcocolla with fenugreek water, add
a bit of saffron, and do with it whatever you want.
Concluding Notes
There is a large amount of information that primary sources may surrender to

a philological and historical approach. The comprehension of their position in
a larger picture is the necessary counterpart to the study of specific cases.
Technical literature in general, and collections of recipes with their fluid
traditions in particular, pose special editorial challenges. A critical approach
to the text requires finding a scientific compromise with the edition, taking
into account the needs of its audience. Any solution adopted should consider,
preserve and inform the reader about all the relevant aspects of the text and its
material carrier. In this way, an edition becomes a solid, though small, piece of
evidence on which any further research may firmly stand.
91 See Ks, Die Mineralien in der arabischen Pharmakognosie, i, pp. 515516 s.v aar al-
miyh (Wasserstein).

338 raggetti
The case of the invisible curcuma inkas long as written on a yellow sup-
portis exemplary for the literary and social history of these texts. It is difficult
to divine how a recipe meant for secret chancery messages travelled in time and
space to the murky alleys in Cairo, reaching al-Zarrs book and then trans-
formed into a trick for charlatans. Regardless of the context of use, however, the
technical knowledge required for the preparation of this invisible ink and, later,
the way to make it readable, remains the same. Considering the literary history
of the genre, I would exclude a polygenetic scenario, and support the idea of a
steady transmission of technical knowledge, though concretely applied in dif-
ferent professional fields.

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Journal of Islamic Manuscripts 7 (2016) 294338