The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit
Abstract Over the last few years, the Federal Institute for material research (BAM, Berlin) together with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC, University of Hamburg) have initiated a systematic material investigation of black inks produced from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (ca...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2021-05-01
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| Series: | Heritage Science |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00541-0 |
| _version_ | 1818645078852239360 |
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| author | Tea Ghigo María Jesús Albarrán Martínez |
| author_facet | Tea Ghigo María Jesús Albarrán Martínez |
| author_sort | Tea Ghigo |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Over the last few years, the Federal Institute for material research (BAM, Berlin) together with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC, University of Hamburg) have initiated a systematic material investigation of black inks produced from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (ca. fourth century CE–fourteenth/fifteenth centuries CE), aimed primarily at extending and complementing findings from previous sporadic studies. Part of this systematic investigation has focused on Egyptian Coptic manuscripts, and the present preliminary study is one of its outputs. It centres on a corpus of 45 Coptic manuscripts—43 papyri and 2 ostraca—preserved at the Palau-Ribes and Roca-Puig collections in Barcelona. The manuscripts come from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit, one of the largest monastic settlements in Egypt between the Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period (sixth–eighth centuries CE). The composition of their black inks was investigated in situ using near-infrared reflectography (NIRR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The analyses determined that the manuscripts were written using different types of ink: pure carbon ink; carbon ink containing iron; mixed inks containing carbon, polyphenols and metallic elements; and iron-gall ink. The variety of inks used for the documentary texts seems to reflect the articulate administrative system of the monastery of Bawit. This study reveals that, in contrast to the documents, written mostly with carbon-based inks, literary biblical texts were written with iron-gall ink. The frequent reuse of papyrus paper for certain categories of documents may suggest that carbon-based inks were used for ephemeral manuscripts, since they were easy to erase by abrasion. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-17T00:25:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-a53c549841694249af7b7fe6783d9c56 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2050-7445 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-17T00:25:02Z |
| publishDate | 2021-05-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Heritage Science |
| spelling | doaj.art-a53c549841694249af7b7fe6783d9c562022-12-21T22:10:28ZengSpringerOpenHeritage Science2050-74452021-05-019111510.1186/s40494-021-00541-0The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at BawitTea Ghigo0María Jesús Albarrán Martínez1Sapienza University of RomeInstituto de Lenguas y Culturas del Mediterráneo y Oriente Próximo, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones CientíficasAbstract Over the last few years, the Federal Institute for material research (BAM, Berlin) together with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC, University of Hamburg) have initiated a systematic material investigation of black inks produced from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages (ca. fourth century CE–fourteenth/fifteenth centuries CE), aimed primarily at extending and complementing findings from previous sporadic studies. Part of this systematic investigation has focused on Egyptian Coptic manuscripts, and the present preliminary study is one of its outputs. It centres on a corpus of 45 Coptic manuscripts—43 papyri and 2 ostraca—preserved at the Palau-Ribes and Roca-Puig collections in Barcelona. The manuscripts come from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit, one of the largest monastic settlements in Egypt between the Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic Period (sixth–eighth centuries CE). The composition of their black inks was investigated in situ using near-infrared reflectography (NIRR) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The analyses determined that the manuscripts were written using different types of ink: pure carbon ink; carbon ink containing iron; mixed inks containing carbon, polyphenols and metallic elements; and iron-gall ink. The variety of inks used for the documentary texts seems to reflect the articulate administrative system of the monastery of Bawit. This study reveals that, in contrast to the documents, written mostly with carbon-based inks, literary biblical texts were written with iron-gall ink. The frequent reuse of papyrus paper for certain categories of documents may suggest that carbon-based inks were used for ephemeral manuscripts, since they were easy to erase by abrasion.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00541-0Ink analysisCoptic manuscriptsMixed inkNear-infrared reflectographyX-ray fluorescencePapyrus |
| spellingShingle | Tea Ghigo María Jesús Albarrán Martínez The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit Heritage Science Ink analysis Coptic manuscripts Mixed ink Near-infrared reflectography X-ray fluorescence Papyrus |
| title | The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit |
| title_full | The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit |
| title_fullStr | The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit |
| title_full_unstemmed | The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit |
| title_short | The practice of writing inside an Egyptian monastic settlement: preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on Coptic manuscripts from the Monastery of Apa Apollo at Bawit |
| title_sort | practice of writing inside an egyptian monastic settlement preliminary material characterisation of the inks used on coptic manuscripts from the monastery of apa apollo at bawit |
| topic | Ink analysis Coptic manuscripts Mixed ink Near-infrared reflectography X-ray fluorescence Papyrus |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00541-0 |
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