Yellow and gold inks

II Ink colours

Although the most common inks are black and red, we have preserved references and recipes for green, purple, blue and, above all, yellow and gold inks. The latter are grouped together, without any specific distinction, within a technique for decorating texts known as chrysographia (from the Greek graphía, «writing», and chrysós, «gold»).

In this category, we find inks produced through the amalgamation of gold and mercury. Although the Egyptians knew how to decorate with gold leaf, there is no evidence of its use in texts. On the contrary, ancient sources suggest that this technique was introduced into the Greek world by the Jews during the Hellenistic period. According to the Letter of (Pseudo) Arsiteas (§176; circa 2nd century B.C.E.), Ptolemy Philadelphus (3rd century B.C.E.) requested a copy of the Hebrew Pentateuch to be translated into Greek at the Library of Alexandria. When the text arrived, the king was astonished to see that it was written in gold letters.

As well as gold inks, chrysographia also includes yellow inks produced from a range of minerals and plants, which were likely employed as substitutes for the precious metal. Among these substances is saffron, a spice whose use as a pigment is documented in prehistoric rock art in Iraq. Saffron is also one of the most expensive spices in the world since ancient times. This is due to the fact that each flower provides only three stigmas, so 100,000 flowers are needed to obtain one kilogram of spice. Additionally, its flowering is very ephemeral, with the blooms opening and closing throughout the day. This explains the high monetary and cultural value attributed to saffron, which has been used in inks for writing Christian and Arabic ritual texts to which therapeutic properties were attributed.