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- 2017 (14) (entfernen)
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- Dead Sea Scrolls (3)
- Forgery (3)
- Carbon ink (2)
- Cultural assets (2)
- Ink (2)
- Iron-gall ink (2)
- Papyrology (2)
- Archaeometry (1)
- Archäometrie (1)
- Cairo Genizah (1)
Eingeladener Vortrag
- nein (9)
The first manuscripts from the Qumran caves were found in 1947. Within the following 10 years, clandestine and legal excavations revealed some 900 highly fragmented manuscripts from the late Second Temple period. This collection is generally known as Scrolls of the Judea Desert or Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS).
For many years after their discovery, text analysis and fragments attribution were the main concern of the scholars dealing with the scrolls. The uncertain archaeological provenance of the larger part of the collection added an additional difficulty to the formidable task of sorting some 19000 fragments. After 60 years of scholar research the questions of origin, archaeological provenance and correct attribution of the fragments are still hotly debated.
In many cases material characterization of the scroll writing media deliver answers to the questions stated above. Furthermore, issues concerning corrosion pathways, ancient technologies and contemporary conservation activities demand in depth material studies. To obtain a comprehensive picture we use optical and electron microscopy, various X-ray based techniques as well as vibrational spectroscopy. We validated our approach with SY- based studies using the advantages of the synchrotron radiation source with respect to the bench-top devices.
Our laboratory studies showed that often production and storage locality could be distinguished thanks to the specific residues (“fingerprint”) they left on the material. Moreover, we have discovered that different parchment production processes coexisted in the antiquity, and the resulting writing materials can readily be distinguished.
Within our recent studies we tentatively reconstructed the history of the Genesis Apocryphon. Written with a corrosive ink on a tanned parchment, it was found rolled together with an additional layer of non-inscribed non-tanned parchment. Chemical composition of the ink is in agreement with a 1st century AD ink recipe recorded in Materia Medica by a Greek physician, Pedanius Dioscorides. Study of the scroll deterioration as a function of time and exposition to light during the post-discovery period allows us to speculate that the scroll was rather “archived” than hidden in Cave 1. These results confirm the theory of Eliezer Sukenik who believed Cave 1 to be a “geniza”. A similar study of the Temple Scroll, discovered in the cave 11 indicates that the scroll was rather hidden than “archived”.
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.
Naturwissenschaftliche Verfahren sind inzwischen fester Bestandteil bei der materialwissenschaftlichen Untersuchung von Kunst- und Kulturgut und bei der Entwicklung von Konservierungskonzepten zum Erhalt des kulturellen Erbes. Insbesondere werden zunehmend bildgebenden Verfahren wie die Computertomographie, die Radiographie oder die Multispektralanalyse verwendet, um die für das menschliche Auge nicht sichtbare Inhalte wie Vorzeichnungen, Pentimenti oder innere Strukturen zu visualisieren. Die entstehenden „neuen Bilder“ verändern jedoch die Sichtweise auf das kulturelle Artefakt, da sie tiefere Einblicke in den Herstellungsprozess, den Aufbau oder den Erhaltungszustand geben können. Weiterhin dokumentieren sie Veränderungen, denen ein Objekt unterworfen wurde. Anhand der Untersuchung von zwei Objekten mit dem Röntgenfluoreszenzportalscanner Jet Stream soll das Verhältnis Original – Digitalisat – Rekonstruktion diskutiert werden.
Ancient papyri are a written heritage of culture that flourished more than 3000 years ago in Egypt. One of the most significant collections in the world is housed in the Egyptian Museum and Papyrus Collection in Berlin, from where the samples for our investigation come. The papyrologists, curators and conservators of such collections search intensely for the analytical detail that would allow ancient papyri to be distinguished from modern fabrications, in order to detect possible forgeries, assess papyrus deterioration state, and improve the design of storage conditions and conservation methods. This has become the aim of our investigation. The samples were studied by a number of methods, including spectroscopic (FTIR, fluorescent-FS, Raman) diffractional (XRD) and chromatographic (size exclusion chromatography-SEC), selected in order to determine degradation parameters: overall oxidation of lignocellulosic material, degree of polymerization and crystallinity of cellulose. The results were correlated with those obtained from carefully selected model samples including modern papyri and paper of different composition aged at elevated temperature in humid air. The methods were classified in the order SEC > FS > FTIR > XRD, based on their effectiveness in discriminating the state of papyri degradation. However, the most trustworthy evaluation of the age of papyri samples should rely on several methods.
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.
Material studies of inks
(2017)
The course presents panorama of historic writing inks, their use the methods of their identification. First, we discuss the possible types of the inks and show how one can determine these types using very simple instrumentation.
The change of the inks from those based on soot to the iron-gall inks commonly used in the Middle Age constitutes the second half of the course.
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.
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.
The course presents panorama of historic writing inks, their use the methods of their identification. First, we discuss the possible types of the inks and show how one can determine these types using very simple instrumentation.
The change of the inks from those based on soot to the iron-gall inks commonly used in the Middle Age constitutes the second half of the course.