Recipe And Background On Making Kosher Ink

[OCArt]

I came across this website on the making of an iron gall based Kosher ink. Interestingly, the formula includes logwood as a coloring agent.

http://scrolls4all.org/scrolls/kosher-ink/

 

brief recipe, but worth reading the original web page:

"The main ingredients for ink acceptable in writing Torah Scrolls and other articles that have the same standard are: Water, Oak Gall Nut, Gum Arabic, Soot, Logwood, Copper Sulfate or Iron Sulfate."

 

From Encyclopedia Britannica:

"Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), also called bloodwood tree, tree of the pea family (Fabaceae), native to Central America and the West Indies. The wood is heavy and extremely hard. Logwood was once an important source of black dye, which is obtained from the red heartwood and is still used as a source of the histological stain hematoxylin. The plant is also used in certain traditional systems of medicine"

https://www.britannica.com/plant/logwood-tree-Haematoxylon-genus#ref225703

 

[Plexipens]

...no product ever used for War may be used ......... Interesting! Thanks!!

[inkstainedruth]

I only have time to skim the article at the moment, but it looks fascinating.

Thanks for posting the link (I had no idea what was meant by "kosher" ink, because I normally would have equated the term strictly with food; a number of years ago I was sitting up late one night, and CBS used to have sort of interview shows on after their regular late night programming, and I saw an interview with a couple of rabbis who's job it was to check to see if food production facilities were kosher, and they were explaining not only the process but also the differences for "kosher for Passover").

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[KKay]

This is very interesting. Thank you for sharing this with us!!!

[SpikeColby]

I came across this website on the making of an iron gall based Kosher ink. Interestingly, the formula includes logwood as a coloring agent.

http://scrolls4all.org/scrolls/kosher-ink/

 

brief recipe, but worth reading the original web page:

"The main ingredients for ink acceptable in writing Torah Scrolls and other articles that have the same standard are: Water, Oak Gall Nut, Gum Arabic, Soot, Logwood, Copper Sulfate or Iron Sulfate."

 

From Encyclopedia Britannica:

"Logwood (Haematoxylum campechianum), also called bloodwood tree, tree of the pea family (Fabaceae), native to Central America and the West Indies. The wood is heavy and extremely hard. Logwood was once an important source of black dye, which is obtained from the red heartwood and is still used as a source of the histological stain hematoxylin. The plant is also used in certain traditional systems of medicine"

https://www.britannica.com/plant/logwood-tree-Haematoxylon-genus#ref225703

 

 

This is neat.

I've seen a few posts by people asking if inks they were using would last until they were an adult, or to make sure their journals wouldn't fade...

Looking at pictures of the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to over 2000 years ago in some cases, it makes a pretty good argument that Iron Gall inks will last the test of time!! I think paper/storage is likely to contribute much more to the longevity of any documents if you're using this recipe.

 

Thanks again!