TY - CHAP A1 - Rimon, Hasia A1 - Rabin, Ira ED - Fuller, R.E. ED - Lange, A. T1 - Conservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls N2 - The current state of preservation of the DSS results from the synergetic effect of various factors such as great age, post-discovery treatments, poor storage conditions, environmental influences and exhibitions. With rare exceptions, neither the initial state nor a list of the treatments performed on each DSS fragment is known. Reconstruction of the individual fragment history will have to rely upon advanced analytical techniques to identify the treatments and their effects. Management of the scrolls may be divided roughly into three periods: a) the scholarly archiving period, from 1948 to the mid-1960s; b) first attempts at conservation, from the mid-1960s to late-1980s; c) Israel Antiquities Authority Scrolls Lab, from 1991 onwards. KW - Preservation KW - Dead Sea Scrolls PY - 2023 SN - 2468-3027 VL - 3D SP - 102 EP - 105 PB - Brill CY - Leiden / Boston AN - OPUS4-58910 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rabin, Ira ED - Russel, R.E. ED - Lange, A. T1 - Ancient Inks N2 - In the last decade scientists and scholars have accumulated more knowledge on black ink used for writing in Antiquity and the early Middle Ages. Ready availability of non-destructive testing instruments employed in interdisciplinary projects on historic manuscripts have made it possible to determine the composition of ink and to compare it with the extant records. KW - Writing Ink KW - Antiquity PY - 2023 SN - 2468-3027 VL - 3D SP - 117 EP - 120 PB - Brill CY - Leiden / Boston AN - OPUS4-58913 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CHAP A1 - Rabin, Ira ED - Russel, R.E. ED - Lange, A. T1 - Non-invasive Analytic Tools in Studies of Manuscripts N2 - Physico-chemical analyses of writing materials offer insight into various questions associated with historical, cultural, and conservational aspects of manuscript studies. The catalogue of questions that can be addressed with these methods includes authenticity, dating, the attribution of various parts of the text to different scribes and the relation between the primary and secondary texts. Similarly, preservation of the manuscripts requires knowledge of the composition of the original materials versus old repairs, identification of damage, as well as recognition of natural aging and degradation processes. The material sciences can contribute data about the chemical compositions of the writing materials, elucidation of the techniques of their production and the absolute age of organic components, as well as characterization of corrosion effects, evaluation of conservation treatment, and monitoring of the preservation state. KW - Material Analysis KW - Manuscripts PY - 2023 SN - 2468-3027 VL - 3D SP - 114 EP - 116 PB - Brill CY - Leiden / Boston AN - OPUS4-58912 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Charakterisierung historischer Schreibtinten: optische Eigenschaften und elementare Zusammensetzung N2 - Unsere Forschung zielt in erster Linie darauf ab, eine soziogeografische Geschichte von Tinte, Pergament und Papyrus zu rekonstruieren, und umfasst die Materialanalyse der Schreibtinten der Schriftrollen vom Toten Meer, der antiken und hellenistischen Papyri in Ägypten, sowie der Koptischen und Europäischen Tinten des Mittelalters. Zu diesem Zweck haben wir ein Protokoll für die zerstörungsfreie Tintenanalyse entwickelt. Es besteht aus einem ersten Screening mit Hilfe der VIS/NIR Fotografie, um die Art der Tinte zu bestimmen, und der anschließenden Analyse mit der Röntgenfluoreszenzanalyse (RFA). Letztere spielt eine wichtige Rolle bei der Identifizierung der Metalle in den Rußtuschen und der Bestimmung der charakteristischen Zusammensetzung metallhaltiger Tinten, um zwischen den verschiedenen Tinten zu unterscheiden. Der Vortrag bietet ein Panorama schwarzer historischer Schreibmittel und zeigt, dass die Materialanalyse einen wesentlichen Beitrag zur Beantwortung vieler kulturhistorischen Fragen leisten kann. T2 - Eingeladener Vortrag bei GStA CY - Berlin, Germany DA - 10.11.2025 KW - Tinte KW - Tusche PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64783 LA - deu AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Rabin, Ira ED - Binder, J. T1 - The marginal notes of Tosefta MS Erfurt N2 - Manuscript Erfurt 12 of the Tosefta (now Berlin, Staatsbibliothek, Ms. or. fol. 1220) is one of three major textual witnesses of the Tosefta. This manuscript has over 80 marginal notes which have not merited scholarly attention. This article presents a comprehensive analysis of all the marginal notes, including an evaluation of their ink composition, a palaeographic assessment of the scripts, as well as a philological assessment of their contents. Combining these methodologies differentiates between the glosses of the scribe and those added by later hands and identifies their provenance, allowing us to trace the history of the manuscript via the emendations that took place in the scholarly communities in which the manuscript was studied. One of the important outcomes of the research is an early dating of the manuscript to eleventh-century Italy, overturning the scholarly view which dates the manuscript to twelfth-century Rhineland KW - Hebrew Manuscripts KW - Ink KW - NIR KW - XRF PY - 2025 DO - https://doi.org/10.3828/jjs.2025.76.2.272 SN - 0022-2097 VL - 76 IS - 2 SP - 272 EP - 300 AN - OPUS4-64770 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Black ink from antiquity to the Middle Ages N2 - Il nostro lavoro di ricerca al BAM si concentra sul passaggio dagli inchiostri a base di fuliggine, comuni nell'antichità, agli inchiostri ferro-gallici, comunemente usati nel Medioevo. Con l'obiettivo di creare una storia dettagliata degli inchiostri neri, abbiamo elaborato un protocollo non invasivo per raccogliere dati statisticamente rilevanti sugli inchiostri da manoscritti datati e localizzati che coprono un ampio arco temporale e diverse aree geografiche. Il primo passo del nostro protocollo consiste nella selezione effettuata mediante riflettografia NIR e IRR. Le differenze ottiche tra gli inchiostri a base di carbonio, tannino e ferro-gallio sono meglio riconoscibili confrontando la loro risposta alla luce infrarossa: l'inchiostro a base di carbonio ha un colore nero intenso, l'inchiostro ferro-gallico diventa trasparente al di sopra dei 1400 nm e l'inchiostro a base di tannino scompare a circa 750 nm. abbiamo semplificato l'analisi utilizzando un piccolo microscopio USB con LED NIR (940 nm) e UV (395 nm) integrati, oltre a una fonte di luce bianca esterna. Confrontando le immagini sotto illuminazione bianca e nel vicino infrarosso, determiniamo la tipologia di inchiostro osservando i cambiamenti nell'opacità dell'inchiostro. In questo caso, gli inchiostri a base di carbonio non mostrano alcuna variazione di opacità quando illuminati con lunghezza d'onda NIR, mentre l'opacità degli inchiostri ferro-gallici cambia notevolmente e gli inchiostri tanninici diventano trasparenti. La nostra recente scoperta che gli inchiostri misti carbonio/ferro-gallici erano piuttosto diffusi nella tarda antichità e nell'alto Medioevo ci ha suggerito di tornare al metodo IRR convenzionale. Il secondo passo del protocollo prevede l'analisi micro-XRF per identificare i componenti inorganici dell'inchiostro. Nel caso degli inchiostri ferro-gallici, stabiliamo le impronte digitali, ovvero i rapporti caratteristici tra i componenti vitriolici dell'inchiostro e l'elemento principale, ferro. T2 - 1° SEMINARIO di studi dottorali CY - Benevento, Italy DA - 06.10.2025 KW - Ink KW - Historic ink PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64773 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Ink Analysis of Relic Texts N2 - The presentation will show the multitude of black writing inks in use during the late Antiquity and early Middle Ages in Europa and the Near East and our attempt to follow up the transition of the inks from those based on soot to the iron-gall inks commonly used in the Middle Ages. Black writing inks in the period under consideration can be divided into three different classes: soot, tannin and iron-gall ink. The first one is a fine dispersion of carbon pigments in a water-soluble binding agent, the second one is a solution of plant extract from tree barks or gallnuts, while the third one contains both soluble and insoluble phases. This last ink is based on metal (iron) and is produced by a chemical reaction of soluble iron (II) with tannin in aqueous solution. Tracing the transition from writing inks based on carbon pigments (soot or charcoal), common in Antiquity to the iron-gall inks commonly used in the Middle Ages builds a focus of our investigative work at the BAM (Federal Institute of Material Analysis and Testing). In this context, we will discuss the results of the ink analysis obtained within the project “Crafting documents”. T2 - Heritage Science and Manuscripts from Antiquity and the Middle Ages CY - Oxford, United Kingdom DA - 13.11.2025 KW - Ink KW - Historic ink PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64772 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Material analysis of afghanistan liturgical quire (ALQ) conducted at the BAM N2 - The lecture presents the results of the detailed material analysis of the inks and of the parchment of the Afghanistan Liturgical Quire (ALQ), conducted at the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -Prüfung (BAM) in Berlin. Testing was conducted using the following techniques: 3-color photography, 3D-digital microscopy, scanning μ-X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF), μ- Raman and FTIR spectroscopy. I will give a short explanation of the principles of the techniques and explain the choice of the instruments. The main task of our work at the BAM required characterization of the inks and comparison of the ink as well as the composition of parchment. For the ink characterization we have followed the protocol developed at the BAM. The standard protocol includes three non-invasive stages: a) near infrared photography (NIRR) to determine the ink type or its main component; b) X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) to determine a fingerprint for iron-gall inks or contaminants in carbon/plant inks; c) Raman spectroscopy if there is an indication that the inks are of a mixed type. For parchment characterization, we usually employ µ-XRF-mapping and FTIR to gain information on specific treatments experienced by the parchment during its preparation and history. T2 - 19th World Congress of Jewish Studies CY - Jerusalem, Israel DA - 04.08.2025 KW - Hebrew Manuscripts KW - Parchment KW - Ink KW - XRF KW - NIR PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64776 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Studies of the black writing inks N2 - In recent years, the interest in the composition of the inks in papyri documents grew exponentially. Different types of inks were found in the period 4th century BCE to 7th century CE. The paper will demonstrate a simple protocol based on comparison of the ink transparency in the near infrared light and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy. The importance of including ink composition into new catalogues and possible formats of such data will be also presented and discussed. T2 - 31st International Congress of Papyrology CY - Cologne, Germany DA - 28.07.2025 KW - Ink KW - Historic ink KW - Papyrus PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64777 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Inks in Early Medieval Manuscripts from Chelles: a Scientific Study N2 - The talk will start with the overview of the ink types and the methods of their characterisation. After displaying XRF spectra of different Carolingian inks the talk will discuss Chelles collection and the labels attributed to Chelles. We will concentrate then on the study of the Chelles manuscripts preserved in Cologne, Vatican and Paris. We will show that there is a good degree of coincidence between the inks of the Chelles manuscripts and the labels attributed to Chelles. We observe unusually early use of vitriolic ink north of the Alps. T2 - Leeds International Medieval Congress (IMC 2025) CY - Leeds, United Kingdom DA - 07.07.2025 KW - Ink KW - Historic ink PY - 2025 AN - OPUS4-64778 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -