2025 Poster Session

Paper has been in use in Egypt since the ninth century and manufactured locally since the tenth century. However, during the Mamluk period, various types of paper from other regions were also available on the market. This research investigates a precious 15th-century Egyptian Islamic paper manuscript entitled Fawaed El Mawaad "Table manners or benefits of tables," from the collection of Ain-Shams University. The research used various analytical techniques to understand the materiality of this manuscript. These included spectral imaging, a portable digital light microscope, a polarised light microscope, a scanning electron microscope (SEM-EDS), FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and Raman spectroscopy. The results show that the paper is made from hemp fibers, using starch as a sizing material and calcium carbonate as a filler, using different types of black and mixed inks, and red ink in which vermilion (HgS) was identified. Interestingly, the manuscript used here was unknown and is mentioned for the first time. This copy is the second oldest among those used in previous studies to revise the text of the subject, only 213 years after its authorship.

Keywords: Arceometry study, Mamluk manuscript, investigation, hemp fiber, filler material, sizing material, black and red ink.