Experiment II
Here I will be doing new experiments in order to recreate new inks with different colors.
I did several tests with different pigments and binders and many of them failed. I will list all of those which failed and why and present the different steps of those who succeeded.
The Experiments that failed :
1) The first which failed included grass and yolk. I collected grass that I put in a box and wanted to do my experiment the next day. But the grass was dry and even once I made it into powder, the pigments did not adhere to the yolk and I could not make green color at all. Maybe I had not enough grass and maybe dry grass is not a good idea to make pigments. Perhaps the juice of grass would have been a solution, and perhaps the binder I chose was not good either.
2) The second experiments which failed included red cabbage. I cut four leaves of cabbage, cut them into pieces and cooked them into boiled water. I collected the water which had a blue color and press the pieces of cabbage to extract their blue juice. I first tried to mix them with a yolk, but I did not work. Then I tried with honey and water, then with honey and yolk, and finally with honey and olive oil, but none of these tests succeeded. I think liquid pigments with that kind of binder cannot work.
3) The third test included white pepper. The pepper was already in powder. I used the same process than with soot. I mixed it with water then with yolk. If it first worked I realized that it did not adhere to the ostracon at all. Only a transparent color appeared with some white reflects. It was impossible to distinguish the signs on the ostracon and once dried, nothin was visible anymore.
The Experiment that succeeded :
1) The first which was a success included red henna. As with the soot, I mixed the powder to water then to the yolk and directly wrote on the ostracon. The signs are still visible on the ostracon.
2) The second was done with curcuma. I also mixed the curcuma with a yolk and water and wrote on the ostracon. It still remains on the pottery.
3) The third was done with chalk. I could not get ocre which was the main source of red and yellow pigments during the antiquity. But I used chalk, since it is a kind of limestone that has always been used to make pigments in Egypt as well as in Europe and other parts of the world. The chalk I found was white. I broke it until it became powder ( I did that with the ostracon ), mixed it with water and added it to the yolk. It perfectly worked. If I could have found chalk in different colors wuch as red, I could have had a fourth pigment.
Experiment 1 / Step 1
This is the red henna.
Step 2
Now I gather my yolk, my henna and my water.
Step 3
I add water to my henna.
Step 4
I mix the henna with the yolk.
Step 5
I take my new ostracon.
Step 6
Here is my new kalam. It's also a bamboo but dry and much thiner than the previous one.
Step 7
I take my metal knife to cut the end of the bamboo.
Step 8
The bamboo's end is cut.
Step 9
And now, I'm writing the name of " Ptolemy " in hieroglyphs on the ostracon.
Conclusion
This formula is efficient, the henna still remains on the ostracon. I do not know if henna would have been used for ink by the Egyptians or not. But this experiment proves that it can be. I think my experiment is fair except for the spoons and the knife that I used which did not exist in ancient Egypt. I did not face much problems, although cut the end of the bamboo again causes problems because it was very thin and small and it was not easy to be precise.
Experiment 2 / Step 1
This time I took curcuma. Curcuma is used by Bouddhist monks to color their long dress, and this experiment will say if it is also good to make ink.
Step 2
Again, I add water to the powder.
Step 3
Then I add the yolk.
Step 4
Finally, using a different bamboo that I also cut like the previous one, I write the name of Ptolemy in Demotic.
Conclusion
This time, the biggest problem I faced was the ink itself. Curcuma ink is very liquid and it was not easy to write as I wanted on the ostracon. I think the binder I used was maybe not appropriate. Since it is dry, the color remains. We will see in the coming days and weeks how is it, compared to the henna.
Experiment 3 / Step 1
Paragraph. Cliquez ici pour modifier.
Step 2
The chalk powder.
Step 3
I add water to the powder, mix it, then add it to the yolk; mix again and finally, it made a white ink. I write some hieratic signs with another kalam cut like the previous ones.
Conclusion
Chalk is definitely a very good solution to make ink. The color is beautiful, it was very easy to draw with it ( easier than with the previous pigments ). However, I think I added too much water, so the ink was a little bit too liquid, but otherwise it was probably the most successful experiment of the three below.