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Organisationseinheit der BAM
For many years after the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, text analysis and fragment attribution were the main concern of the scholars dealing with them. The uncertain archaeological provenance of a large part of the collection added difficulties to the already formidable task of sorting thousands of fragments. After 60 years of scholarly research the questions of origin, archaeological provenance and correct attribution of the fragments are still debated. To help address these questions we have developed a methodology suitable to the material studies of the scrolls using combinations of X-ray, FTIR and Raman techniques. On the one hand, an accurate characterization of the highly heterogeneous writing media of the Dead Sea Scrolls leads to a reliable reconstruction of their history and, thus, contributes significantly to the current debate. On the other hand, it provides new information on the production of ancient parchment towards the end of the Second Temple period, opening a new page in the historical study of technology.
As part of the Qumran project conducted at the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) in Berlin between 2007 and 2010, my colleagues and I developed a new, integrated methodology for determining the original and acquired properties of highly heterogeneous Dead Sea Scrolls. The purpose of this methodology is to help scholars determine the provenance of fragments of the scrolls and sort and compare them more easily than in the past. Since our measurements allowed us to differentiate between the minerals originating from the production processes and the sediments accrued during storage in the caves in Qumran, we were able to reconstruct the treatment of hides and discovered that at least two distinct parchmentproduction techniques co-existed at the beginning of the common era.
The reconstruction of workmanship on animal hides in Antiquity raised doubts about the validity of the current definition of parchment, which is based on a production technique known from the Middle Ages. We hope that our current work will also help researchers understand the characteristic properties of gewil, qelaf and dukhsustos better.¹
The evolution and socio-geographic distribution of writing inks in late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages are the second focus of our investigative work at BAM.
We use X-ray fluorescence analysis (XRF) to determine the chemical composition of inks and NIR reflectography for their typology. We are amply assisted in our ambitious enterprise by codicologists and palaeographers who have adopted our methodology and conduct field studies of their own.
Our current projects focus on the material analysis of the writing materials
kept in the Taylor-Schechter Collection at Cambridge University Library,
which houses the largest collection of Cairo Geniza fragments, about 190,000.
Although Geniza manuscripts have attracted a great deal of scholarly attention,
the material aspects of these documents seem to have been largely neglected.
The current study aims to obtain information on the composition of the writing
supports and the inks that were used, the production of the original manuscripts
and the history of their degradation. The collected data should supplement the
description based on Hebrew palaeography and codicology. Moreover, a characterisation
of the writing materials would provide insights on trade, local production
techniques and social structures. The tabulated results have the potential to
be used as geo-chronological markers if sufficient data is collected.
For our study, we chose Hebrew legal documents and letters from three communities
that co-existed in Fustat (today Cairo) in the 11th century: the Jerusalemite
(or ‘Palestinian’) community, the Babylonian community and the Karaites, three
different communities with different scribal traditions. In addition to this, we
studied non-biblical scrolls attributed to the Palestinian and Babylonian communities.
The question we addressed was whether we can correlate the use of a
specific type of ink to an objective criterion.
For our analysis at Cambridge University Library, we used a number of protocols
developed at BAM (Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung) in
Berlin and at the Centre for Study of Manuscript Cultures, University of Hamburg
(CSMC). These include reflectographic examination followed by non-destructive
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis using transportable instruments so that the
analysis can be carried out in situ.
We have illustrated our approach here by providing two examples. The first one
describes our investigation of the leather fragment containing a portion of the
Babylonian Talmud on its hair side (TS Misc.26.53.17). The second example illustrates
our ability to compare iron-gall inks using the XRF method. In this case,
we explored the question of the codicological attribution of three fragments (TS
F17.4, TS 12.755 and TS 12.756) to the same Talmud manuscript.
Parchment
(2017)
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.
Investigation of physical properties and chemical composition of writing materials generates important data that we add to the results of the codicological analysis of the manuscripts. In its individual materiality, each manuscript is the result of a wide variety of influences. The “life” of a manuscript starts with its production that includes preparation of the writing surfaces and inks; it is followed by the use and storage, and finally characterized by treatment during restoration. Using instrumental analysis we record the characteristics that still exist. Combining our data with those obtained from the palaeographical and codicological analysis produces a new powerful tool for reconstruction of the history of a manuscript.
This paper addresses the role of material analysis in the current discussion on the authenticity of unprovenanced fragments. It will show that material analysis alone, especially its non-destructive variety, cannot prove that the object is genuine. The best material analysis can do, after all appropriate tests have been conducted, is to announce that nothing has been found that contradicts the assumption of genuineness. Moreover, the results of the material analysis can never be used as the only justification of authentication in cases of composite objects such as manuscripts or epigraphs.
The most effective approach for testing suspicious artifacts has been established by forensic science. Not limited to non-invasive analysis, this approach relies on validated techniques that usually require the extraction of samples and comparison with reference materials and are capable of delivering unambiguous results. In contrast, the analysis of suspicious manuscripts has to overcome additional obstacles such as the heterogeneity of historical material, the scarcity of suitable reference standards, and restriction to strictly non-invasive techniques.
We discuss the reliability of the testing protocol based on the non-destructive multi-instrumental approach developed by the BAM for the investigation of writing materials. In the case of the DSS, it relies on comparison with the genuine DSS fragments studied over the last 10 years.
This paper addresses the sensitive issue of authentication of the un-provenanced manuscripts of high monetary value if certified to be genuine.
Over the last decade the popularity of material studies of manuscripts using non-destructive technologies (NDT) has increased enormously. In the case of suspicious writings these studies are held in especially high esteem due to the methodological rigor they are reputed to contribute to debate. Moreover, audiences from a humanities background often tend to disregard the technical details and treat any published interpretation of instrumental analysis as an objective finding.
The paper will discuss the currently available methods and testing protocols for writing materials stressing the advantages and limitations of the non-invasive analysis. As an example we will consider the recent announcement of the possibility of non-invasive dating of carbon inks focusing on the validation required for a testing method.
We will make clear that material analysis alone cannot prove that the object is genuine. We should rather adopt the effective approach for testing suspicious artifacts that has been established by the forensic science. Here, not the authentication, but the determination of the forgery stands in the focus of the work.