Main ideas
Use of parchment for written records
The process of manufacturing parchment
The ink ( The pigment)
The writing tools on parchment& papyrus
Use of parchment for written records
Parchment was, along with papyrus, one of the most important materials used as a writing surface in ancient times. Middle Eastern civilizations first wrote on ordinary leather before parchment was invented. The oldest existing text on leather found in Egypt dates from the 15th century BC.
Leather and, later, parchment was used specifically by the Jews to write their sacred texts. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, the Greeks of Asia Minor wrote on leather before switching to papyrus.
To read more about Coptic manuscripts &parchment click here
To read more about Coptic manuscripts &parchment click here
The process of manufacturing parchment
Although older books did not contain a detailed description of how parchment was made, the method of making parchment did not change over the course of several centuries. In fact, it was still practiced in Europe in the Middle Ages. Most probably the hides of small animals, such as sheep or goats.
What is the process of making parchment?
They were first soaked in water and lime for three days. This was to melt the fat and any remaining meat from the hide. Then the wool was sheared and the skin was stretched until it dried completely. It was then treated, polished, and cut into regular square shapes, ready for use. Both sides of the parchment were inscribed.
The Copts acquired exquisite skill in the manufacture of parchment from the skins of gazelles prepared in very slices, which were then salted and dried until fit for writing upon. At the same time, old parchment was frequently re-used after erasing the old texts. Many valuable literary and historical works have thus been lost. The use of parchment continued until the 13th century.
Although Egypt produced ample quantities of papyrus, which was relatively inexpensive, parchment was preferable because parchment could be made wherever small animals were reared. Its production, however, was more expensive than papyrus and the amount produced did not fulfill the needs of the market.
Christianity played a role in this development as both Christians and Jews preferred to write their sacred texts on more durable material. They believed their sacred books, the Bible in the case of Christians and the Torah in the case of Jews, were as important as places of worship and should not be written on material that would disappear with time.
It is noteworthy that very large and complete manuscripts on parchment have been found, especially the wonderful collection excavated in one of the monasteries of the Fayum and bought by the rich Americain Pierpont Morgan.
The latest parchment manuscript is preserved in the library of Deir El Sourian in Wadi El Natrun.
What people used after parchment?
They Used the linen paper for written records
Soon after the 13th century, a revolution took place with the appearance of linen paper instead of 00. Its manufacture flourished in the Islamic periods, and the Arab historian Makrizi states that there was a special street for paper factories in Cairo. The city of Fayum and the town of Bebory near Damietta were also renowned for this industry.
Parchment &papyrus made a great development at this time, however; the ink has a great role in this time so let’s know more about the ink at this time.
The ink ( The pigment)
During the Ancient Egyptian time, The equipment of the scribe who writes hieroglyphs consists of a rectangular case of pigment and reeds, a pot of water for wetting the pigment, and the reeds themselves.
The most common pigment was carbon black. Red of ochre, an earthy mineral oxide of iron, was used to highlight the subject heading and dates.
Ink with lead was not used until the Ptolemaic period. It seems to have been used only by scribes writing Greek. The demotic part, even in the same document, would still be written with the traditional carbon.
Ink- making of various sorts and colors was in the charge of a skillful group of monks in the monasteries. The ink used in writing was made of special materials to which gum arabic was generally added.
Among the ruins of Deir-el Gazaz, near the foot of the hills lying west of Naqada, some ink pots have been found at the bottom of which were traces of various sorts of dry which the monks employed in copying.
Among the references recorded on a page of a liturgical manuscript testifying to the exquisite skill of the monks in the art of making the various kinds of ink, is the statement that one of the monks in the monastery of St. Anthony, named Peter the Dronkian, was the most famous copyist of this time.
For the colors:
Red was employed for writing the titles and the beginning of the chapters, and black for texts. The other colors were used for ornamenting the pages of manuscripts by painting crosses or martyrs, saints, apostles, angels, and other biblical scenes. Sometimes they were decorated with pictures of birds or tame animals, or with floral and geometrical patterns.
The writing tools on parchment& papyrus
For the writing tools, the copyist employed reeds, and the museum possesses many of them together with wooden or leather pen cases. Such reeds are still used in writing in small village schools.
The manuscripts are on papyrus or parchment or paper are divided into 5 principal groups:
1- Liturgical manuscripts were written in Greek. These are the oldest.
2- Bilingual manuscripts were written in Greek and Coptic. These were common use before the Arab conquest.
3- Pure Coptic manuscripts of different periods.
4- Bilingual manuscripts were written in Coptic and Arabic. They were used when Arabic had supplanted Coptic as the language of Egypt.
During the Caliphate El-Walid ibn Abdul-Malik, it was ordered that Arabic should replace Coptic. The Copts then began to translate the Coptic books into Arabic.
In 1140, the Patriarch Gabriel II ordered the bishops to explain the prayers and the faith in Arabic, but Coptic was still used in the churches for prayers.
However, the 1st translations of the Bible which were officially sanctioned by the church date to the 13th century.
5- Arabic manuscripts, used in abundance after the spread of the Arabic language in the country.
The first person who might have written originally in Coptic was Saint Anthony, a hermit in the desert in the 2nd century. We have a collection of his 7 letters, existing in Latin, in Georgian and in Coptic.
Another person who might have written in Coptic is Hieracas of Leontoplois.
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