TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Material studies of historic inks: From antiquity to the Middle Ages N2 - While studying the history of inks, division 4.5 of the BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und Prüfung) together with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures in Hamburg has developed a protocol for ink analysis. It consists of a primary screening to determine the type of the ink, and a subsequent in-depth analysis using several spectroscopic techniques. One of them, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) aims primarily at establishing the fingerprints of inks containing metals, making it possible to distinguish among different inks. Our research aims primarily at recreating a socio-geographic history of inks, parchment, and papyrus and includes the comparative analysis of the writing materials of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ink and papyrus in Ancient and Hellenistic Egypt, and inks in documents from various contemporary medieval communities in Fustat (first nucleus of Cairo) as well as other medieval Jewish and Armenian communities. The presentation shows the panorama of historic inks 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 Age. T2 - Kolloqium CY - KIT, Germany DA - 17.05.2019 KW - historic inks PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48131 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Material studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls N2 - Our study is dedicated to non-destructive characterization of the support and the inks of the DSS. To that aim we use micro-XRF, 3D- SY-XRF, different IR methods including synchrotron radiation based reflectance spectroscopy, optical and electron microscopy. The lecture discusses advantages and the shortcomings of the non-destructive testing approach. T2 - Seminar CY - Freie Universität Berlin, Germany DA - 04.02.2019 KW - Dead Sea Scrolls PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48132 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Brozowski, E. A1 - Colini, C. A1 - Hahn, Oliver A1 - Rabin, Ira ED - Ayo, Charles K. T1 - Scientific investigations on paper and writing materials of Mali: A pilot study JF - Journal of african studies and development N2 - The investigation of physical properties and chemical composition generates data important for answering cultural-historical questions that cannot be solved by historical and philological methods alone. Due to technological developments, technical diagnostics in art and culture are in ever-greater demand in such fields of transdisciplinary research. Natural sciences play auxiliary role in the studies of manuscripts. The success of their contribution depends strongly on the formulation of the question, the choice of the methods to obtain the requested answer, and appropriate reference databases. First, report was given on the measurements performed on local raw materials, such as, plants, minerals and animals, which constitute the reference session. Then, the first results of the scientific analysis of several fragments from the Malian manuscript collections were present. KW - Manuscripts KW - Inks KW - Colorants KW - Non-destructive testing PY - 2019 DO - https://doi.org/10.5897/JASD2017.0453 SN - 2141-2189 VL - 11 IS - 3 SP - 28 EP - 50 PB - Academic Journals CY - Nairobi, Kenya AN - OPUS4-48100 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Evolution of writing black inks N2 - Our research aims primarily at recreating a socio-geographic history of inks, parchment, and papyrus and includes the comparative analysis of the writing materials of the Dead Sea Scrolls, ink and papyrus in Ancient and Hellenistic Egypt, and inks in documents from various contemporary medieval communities in Fustat (first nucleus of Cairo) as well as other medieval Jewish and Armenian communities. The presentation shows the panorama of historic inks 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 Age. T2 - Elephantine Salon CY - Ägyptisches Museum Berlin, Germany DA - 22.03.2019 KW - Carbon ink KW - Iron-gall ink KW - Historic ink PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48134 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Analyzing historic inks: From antiquity to the Middle Ages. N2 - While studying the socio-geographic history of inks, division 4.5 of the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und Prüfung (BAM) together with the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) in Hamburg has developed a non-invasive protocol for ink analysis. It consists of a primary reflectographic screening to determine the type of the ink (soot, tannin or iron-gall) and a subsequent in-depth analysis using several spectroscopic techniques: X-ray fluorescence (XRF), Infrared and Raman spectroscopies. The first of them, XRF elemental analysis aims at establishing the unique fingerprints of inks containing metals or trace elements in carbon inks. In addition, we use Raman analysis to identify so-called mixed inks, an ink category that received little attention so far. Finally, with the help of IR spectroscopy we obtain information about the ink binders. T2 - Coptic Literature in Context. The Contexts of Coptic Literature Late Antique Egypt in a dialogue between literature, archaeology and digital humanities CY - Rom, Italy DA - 25.02.2019 KW - Ink PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48135 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Evolution of writing black inks N2 - The evolution and socio-geographic distribution of writing inks from Late Antiquity to the Middle Ages are one of the foci of our investigative work at the Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung (BAM) in Berlin and the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, Hamburg University. This presentation will examine the inks used by Jews in the in different geographical zones try to correlate the results of the material analysis with written records and existing traditions. We will compare the inks proposed by Maimonides, who lived in 12th-century Egypt, with the considerations of Rashi, who lived in 11th-century northern France, and see that they both advocated use of the inks commonly known and produced in their respective regions. It is Maimonides who proposes to add tannins to the soot inks, but rejects the metallic salt, both of which were practices that were well attested in contemporary Arabic recipes for making ink. In contrast, Rashi was favourable to employing the plant inks in use in contemporary Northern Europe. T2 - Jewish-Christian Relations from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean: Evidence from Material Culture CY - Bochum, Germany DA - 26.03.2019 KW - Ink KW - Jewish cultures PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48136 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira A1 - Hahn, Oliver T1 - Material analysis of manuscripts: methodological introduction N2 - Natural sciences play auxiliary role in the studies of manuscripts. The success of their contribution depends strongly on the formulation of the question and the choice of the methods to obtain the requested answer. Therefore, one should try to go beyond the understanding of the basic principles of the scientific analysis. We will start with a glance at the basic principles of the techniques used in the material science for determination of the elemental composition (X-ray emission) and molecular composition (FTIR & Raman). We will move then to the bench and mobile equipment commonly used in the field of cultural heritage. At the end we will choose a question to be answered and design an ideal experiment that will be modified according to the limitations dictated by on-site conditions. In the ateliers in the afternoon we will a) compare two XRF devices that differ in their spatial resolution; b) use a high resolution microscope (Keyence) to obtain a close look at writing surfaces and materials; c) we will learn to determine the type of the inks with the help of another microscope (DinoLite AD413T-12V), a usb microscope with visible, UV and NIR illumination; d) we will learn to use FTIR-ATR device for determination of the type of the writing surface; e) We will use mobile Raman device for identification of pigments. T2 - Summer School: Manusciences19 CY - Frejus, France DA - 10.03.2019 KW - Material science KW - Cultural heritage PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48137 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira T1 - Parchment N2 - This lecture will present history of parchment based on written sources and chemical examination of antique, medieval and modern parchment. Our studies of the Dead Sea Scrolls writing surfaces show that they can be divided roughly into three groups: leather, parchments of a light tint, and those of various shades of brown. The latter ones are invariably tanned, whereas the middle group is characterized by the presence of various inorganic salts. Some of the pale parchments, among them the Temple Scroll (11Q19), are remarkably similar to medieval European parchment. Therefore we have formulated the working theory that in the Judaea of the Hellenistic period two different parchment-making traditions existed side by side: an ‘eastern’ one (represented by the tanned parchments of Qumran, closely resembling Aramaic documents from the fifth century BC, and a ‘western’ one (represented by the untanned/lightly tanned ones similar to early Christian Greek parchments). This division has found support during our studies of the Geniza fragments, in which Babylonian and Palestinian traditions seem to follow the “eastern” and “western” technologies, respectively. T2 - Sumer School: Manusciences19 CY - Frejus, France DA - 10.03.2019 KW - Parchment KW - Leather KW - Tanning PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48138 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Rabin, Ira A1 - Hahn, Oliver T1 - Inks and pigments N2 - The writing materials used in various cultures and epochs can be divided into two groups. The first comprises materials that write themselves, producing script by rubbing their own material off onto the writing surface. It includes charcoal, graphite, chalk, raddle, and metal styluses. Depending on the material and consistency, these are cut or pressed to make styluses and then used for writing. The second group comprises all coloring liquids that are applied to the writing surface with a quill, pen, or printing block. It includes inks made from dye solutions (for example, tannin inks) and those made from pigment dispersions (for example, sepia, soot, and bister inks). The latter are sometimes also rubbed as pastes into letters incised into the writing surface, where they increase visual contrast. Due to the variety of recipes and the natural origin of raw materials, there is a wide range of different components and impurities in writing materials. Soluble inks (Tinten) Soluble inks are based mainly on dyes forming a water solution. Colored inks were manufactured with different plant or insect dyes (e.g. Brazil wood, kermes). To stabilize the volatile material, the dyes were mixed with a mordant (e.g., alum). Brown plant inks – best-known as blackthorn or Theophilus’ inks – are usually produced from the blackthorn bark and wine. In the early European Middle Ages, inks of this kind were widely used in the production of manuscripts in monasteries. Usually, they are light brown, so sometimes small amounts of iron sulfate were added, which led to what was called an “imperfect” iron gall ink. The difference between “classic” iron gall ink and such imperfect ink is therefore not clear: the distinction is not possible, especially with the naked eye. Dispersion inks (Tuschen) According to its generic recipe, one of the oldest black writing materials is produced by mixing soot with a binder dissolved in a small amount of water. Thus, along with soot, binders such as gum arabic (ancient Egypt) or animal glue (China) are among the main components of soot inks. From Pliny’s detailed account of the manufacture of various soot-based inks, we learn that, despite its seeming simplicity, producing pure soot of high quality was not an easy task in Antiquity. Therefore, we expect to find various detectable additives that might be indicative of the time and place of production. One such carbon ink requires the addition of copper sulfate . The experimental discovery of this ink in 1990 led to a misleading expression “metal ink” that is sometimes found in the literature. Colored dispersion inks based on pigments such as orpiment, cinnabar, or azurite have been known since Antiquity. Natural or artificially produced minerals are finely ground and dispersed in a binding medium. As in soot inks, water-soluble binders such as gum arabic or egg white were used. Iron gall ink (Eisengallustinten) Iron gall inks are a borderline case between these two groups. They are produced from four basic ingredients: galls, vitriol as the main source of iron, gum arabic as a binding media, and an aqueous medium such as wine, beer, or vinegar. By mixing gallic acid with iron sulfate, a water-soluble ferrous gallate complex is formed; this product belongs to the type “soluble inks”. Due to its solubility, the ink penetrates the writing support’s surface, making it difficult to erase. Exposure to oxygen leads to the formation of insoluble black ferric gallate pigment, i.e., “dispersion ink”. Natural vitriol consists of a varying mixture of metal sulfates. Since for ink making it was obtained from different mines and by various techniques, inks contain many other metals, like copper, aluminum, zinc, and manganese, in addition to the iron sulfate. These metals do not contribute to color formation in the ink solution, but possibly change the chemical properties of the inks. T2 - Summer School Manusciences 19 CY - Frejus, France DA - 10.03.2019 KW - Ink KW - Material science KW - Cultural heritage PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48139 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - CONF A1 - Hahn, Oliver T1 - Paper: history, manufacture, properties N2 - The lecture traces the origins of paper, the manufacture and the spread from China to the Middle East and Europe. Though technological progress considerably affected each step of the manufacture of paper, the essence of the invention remains unchanged until today. The process of manufacturing handmade paper can be divided into a number of steps: - choosing the raw material (e.g. cellulose from wood, cotton, rags) - beating and grinding the fibres into small pieces - producing a liquid pulp of the desired texture - treating the pulp with various additives - filling the pulp suspension into a paper mould - draining the water - pressing and drying to get the actual sheet - various post-production treatments We will see how the manufacturing process is reflected in the properties of the paper and its degradation. A special attention will be paid to the instrumental analysis for identification of the paper types. Also watermark play an important role in the studies of the manuscripts. A short overview will be offered at the ends of the lecture. T2 - Summer School Manusciences 19 CY - Frejus, France DA - 10.03.2019 KW - Material science KW - Cultural heritage PY - 2019 AN - OPUS4-48140 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -