ARAB PAPERMAKING Don Baker aan d ‘Map of the Islamic World Introduction Western descriptions of Arab papermaking contain much that appears to be conjecture. The aim of this paper is to identify what can be learned from early Arab accounts and from the examination of existing samples of the paper tselt Firstly, to define the word ‘Arab’ It includes those who speak the Arabic language and those who have laid claims to inks with the nomadic tribes of Arabia, Arabs are usually ‘Muslims, but not always. About the time that the secret of papermaking escaped from China, the Arab world had Feached its maximum size. The transfer of this jealously: guarded technique at the middle of the eighth century CE! took place near Samarqand in Tansoxania {see map). This, region was held by the Arabs as the result of military conquest but was administered by local rulers on payment of suitable tribute, The Arabs were the occupying power; they were certainly not the original Islamic papermakers, Only when the technique of papermaking started to spread could the product really be described as Arab paper. In the carly years it might well have been called Soghdian paper, named after the region about Samarqand. However, the following eight hundred years, up to the mid-sixteenth century, saw the manufacture of what can be called without any hesitation, Arab paper. By this time, the great secret of papermaking had escaped to Christendom by way of Spain, or perhaps Sicily. Literary sources The new-found wealth and assurance of the Arabs gave rise toa surge of literary works chronicling their achievernents, The original literateurs and geographers gathered infor- mation on the warld around them. Later writers helped themselves liberally to these works. In the absence of ‘western eneyclopaedists, itis possible that the picture that 28 isdrawnof the Arab world in the mid-eighth century is more accurate than any that could be drawn for the equivalent period in Europe? Te give an example from alTha’alibi (died 1038) ‘the author of The Book of Roads and Provinces* relates that amongst the Chinese prisoners of wat captured by Ziyad ibn Salih and brought 10 Samarqand were some artisans who manufactured paper in Samarqand; then it was manufactured on wide scale and passed into general use, until it became an important export commodity for the people of Samaraand. Its value was universally recognised and people everywhere used it.® Ziyad had decisively defeated a Chinese army in the region of falas in 751 The two most common writing materials before the arrival of paper were papyrus and the more expensive and prestigious parchment. To quote Ibn Khaldun (died 1406) “Originally, copies of scholarly works, governmental comespondence, and diplomas were written on parchment, because there was great prosperity at the beginning of Islam and the works that were written were few. The production of books and writings then developed greatly. Government docu- ments and diplamas increased in number. There was: not enough parchment for al that.” bn Khaldun continues: ‘Therefore, alFad! ibn Yahya suggested the manufacture of paper’ This seems to imply that al-Fadi, who had been governor of Khurasan in 794 introduced papermaking to the seat of government, thal is, to Baghdad."Samarqand maintained its te Islamic papermaking. Al-Tha‘alit 868/9] mentions tha western landsw! he papyrus of Eg of Samargand isto the East. ke Egypt and Syria had 2 bureaucratic t quantities af papyrus. Van Karabacek, eat nineteenth century schol: paper, has show! Vienna that Egy! which needed great le of the tenth century paper made in Arab lands? Von Karabacek here was paper not made in Arab lands?” In al for the manufacture of is a supply of gestion that paper was made in Mecca is untenabl northern Syria, the great river valleys of Mesopotamia, ead further westwards int Two accounts from opposite of flax as the raw orn near Qairouan papermaking, Ibn present day Tunisia describes the soaking and shredding of “best white flax’, utting and final grinding in a mortar ‘untifit rea viscosity’ It must be remembered that this account n of the Arab world. me period but trom a different technologically from a traditionally conservative regi iashajin [a kind of trip hammer] which are installed on running water for pounding, asin the Linen and hemp are the tw any others tending to be inclusions or intrusi ermaking fibres, .odox Muslims have and so there are few d Where they exist, they are usualy illustratior about portraiture pictions of craftsmen at work. Don Baker fo my knowledge, there is no Arab picture of a papermaker. he Arab paper mould was similar to that still found in Nopal, China and Japan. A removable straw or reed mai was laid on a ribbed support, Its design was to change during the thirteenth and fourteenth century to give the characteristic papers of that period (see below) Sources of early paper samples Amongst the earliest dated examples of Arab pa that 1, A manuscript in the library of the University of Leide dated 252 Higra { containing a large part of the famous work Gharibu ‘/-Hadith by Abu ‘Ubayd al-Oasim ibn Tallam, Ms Leiden CodOr. 298. This manuse dark brown paper formed by pasting two sheets t the smooth sides outward ints on very 2. The first two folios of A Thousand Nights, consisting of the title page and first page of text, This fragment ha as scrap pap the jottings being dated the last of Safar of th ix and sixty and. two [hundred J’, corresponding to 20th October 879. The book must have been a rare and prized possession. A « low at least half a century of use before its becoming aged and falling into its deteriorated condition. This could make it the aldest paps book t0 come out of the Islamic world. Syria is the suggested country of origin, © 3. The Geniza papers. The religious beliels of a Cairen Jewish community have preserved not only a vast store of early Arab paper but also details of the paper trade during the high Middle Ages. They held that writings that might possibly contain the name of God should not be destroye by fire. One way was to treat them as the hum: ‘would be treated; ie. the writings were buried. In this case the pap th commercial and p put in a depository for discarded writings, a Geniza. It was fortunate that they were not buried in the ground, sonal, were instead aterior, Bon Ezra synagogue, ld Caio, Ben Ezra synagogue, Ladder on balcony teads tothe G 29‘ARAB PAPER MAKING The Geniza chamber was probably constructed as an addition when the Ben Ezra Synagogue was resiored in 1025. Thore are documents for almost every year from 1002 until 1266 aiter which they become tarer. Later generations were to reopen the Geniza, however, con Tinuing to add to it, In 1890 the roof of the Geniza was taken down and the treasures reveaied. A previous breach in 1864 had alerted scholars to the possiblity of the existence of an historic collection of manuscripts. Purchased by ‘wostern collectors and universities, a large section care to ‘be housed in the Cambridge University Library. Although the Geniza papers give a certain amount of information about the paper trade during the eleventh century, they tell little about its manufacture There is the implication that, like sugar, paper was mass produced in impressive matbakhs [kitchens] in the area of Fustat, the southern patt of Cairo.” Despite local manufacture, paper was importedin enormous quantities from Damascus, One delivery was of twenty-eight camel loads weighing approximately 14,000Ibs."" Baghdad had become the capital of the caliphate (ie. the domain of Islam) in 750, but dissension gradually weakened the Abbasid empire to the extent that by 920 the power of the caliph was hardly felt even in his capital city (see Appendixichronology). The resulting autonomy of the eastern regions led to separate development. A growing divergence in the types of paper manufactured was evidence of an increasing division between Arab and Persian cultures, Persian paper from the fifteenth century onwards was thin and hard, properties so different from ‘Arab paper that it led to new developments in bookbinding such as new sewing techniques. Sturdy sewing hemp was replaced in Persian bindings by thin silk Egypt gained autonomy in the ninth century and became the new centre of prosperity forthe Arab world. The Fatirnid and Ayyubid periods were the golden age of the smali trader as the Geniza papers show. Egypt controlled the major trade routes such as that of gold across the Sahara and the spice routes trom the East to Europe. 1. Alletter in roll form in the Taylor-Schechter collection TS 28.5 dated 1084, on biscuit-coloured laid paper. The paper surface is unpolished and, viewed under transmitted light, the texture is floccular and swirling, the pulp having many partially digested fragments. Laid lines are visible, very thick and spaced at a frequency of about 5 per centimetre Short lengths of chain tine are visible about 60mm apart 2. A less common type is TS28/26 (TIth - 12th century) which has chain lines 45mm apart. 3, Another example is TS 92.4 (1th - 12th century}, also a letter in rll form but in this case on wove paper and with a slightly polished surface. It can be seen that papers of the eleventh century can be laid or wove, On closer examination however many of those papers that appear at first sight to be wave shaw signs of laid fines. Most charactoristically these lines will show where the sheet is thin or has been damaged by water or abrasion. Fibres have been little modified by beating, some 30 aro split but extensive fibillation is rare, Large bundles of fibres are common. All this gives a soft sheet with only ‘moderate bonding. The thickness might be between 0.2 and 0.3m, Examples of this type of paper described for the eleventh century continue to be found far the next four centuries, appearing as anachronisms, They may be of rustic manufacture nave estimated the mould size using some af these Fatimid and Ayyubid papers. Letters are ideal for this as they have not suffered trimming by generations of bookbinders, For example: 1828/3. 613mm 236mm wove Ts 28/1 645mm 105mm wove TS28/17 660mm 105mm aid 180mm laid 1832/2 730mm 1832/3 745mm 1832/7 700mm 225mm wove 228mm wove TS28/20 585mm x x 170mm laid If itis assumed that these letters have been cut either two, three or four from a sheet, some original sheet sizes could be calculated as: 18 28/3 TS 28/11 TS.28/17 660mm 613mm — x TS 28/20 685mm x 845mm 470mm cuttwice 420mm cut four times 460mm cut twice 360mm cut twice 450mm cut twice 486mm cut twice 510mm cut three times 1832/2 730mm 1832/3 745mm 1832/7 700mm Those sizes are significant because a scribe would not tear fa sheet of paper arbitrarily, Rules of chancery laid down precisely what division af a sheet of paper should be used for any specific letter. Irigoin has examined the questian of Arab paper sizes."* He took the nine theoretical sizes suggested by Von Karabacek" and concentrated on the three most comenon: 290mm x 420mm 420mm x §80mm 80mm x 840mm He made the following points about these paper sizes: 1. Paper sizes were the same in Syria and Egypt 2. The widthis two-thirds the length. 3. The width of a sheet is the same as the length of the size Of sheet immediately below it, as the table above shows, It seems that on the basis of these figures, the papers in the Taylor-Schechter collection are cut from the second and thitd sizes. Following the collapse of the Ayyubid state, the Mamluk sultans established in 1250 a formidable empire which would rule Egypt, Syria and Palestine for more than two hundred and fifty years. This slave dynasty commissioned some of the greatest works of Islamic art of any era in the shape of large format Qur'ans. It was a period that saw not only the greatest achievements but also the approaching demise of the Arab paper industry. Changes appear in the characteristics of paper during the iwelfih century. Both laid and wove papers now show areqular thickening of the pulp seen as darkened bands on the sheet. These are caused by the supporting ribs of the mould and are spaced at intervals of between 55mm and 85mm, most frequently about 75mm. Like chain lines these rib shadows run across the short length of the paper as formed. Unlike the rib shadows of European papers they do not coincide with chain lines, because the mat was removed each time a sheet of paper was formed. The presence of these shadows makes it possible to observe even in wove paper how the paper has been cut from the whole sheet. New characteristics appear around the tum of the thirteenth century. Multiple chain lines are clearly visible in the paper. M. Beit-Arie surveyed Hebrew manuscripts on oriental, thatis, regional and not specifically Hebrew, paper and described three types of paper.” 1. Chain lines grouped in twos, This is the oldest and the only kind of grouped chain lines found in manuscripts dated Until the beginning of the thirteenth century. 2. Chain lines grouped in threes, This became the dominant pattern of laid paper. Beit-Arie gives 1277 as the earliest ‘example 3. Chain lines grouped in twos and threes alternately. Beit Arie suggests this pattern is the youngest, introduced in the 1380s. All the localised manuscripts which he examined on this tyne of paper were copied in Syria or Palestine. However an Arabic manuscript on this type of paper written in 1304 was olfered for sale by Christies." Occasionally, heavy papers are found with groups of four Chain lines. These papers all seem to be Syro-Egyptian Preparing the paper for writing “To prepare the paper for writing, it was sized and polished by the papermaker, or the scribe, or both, Papers sized with animal glue are unknown in the Orient probably for the ‘same reason that western papermakers preferted to size paper in winter, namely that gelatine quickly sours in hot weather. Ibn Badis describes the eleventh century method cf making rice starch by washing boiled rice and tells that equal quantities of chalk and rice starch are used to coat the paper and add whiteness. The process is completed when dry by polishing with a glass burnisher. Examination of papers of this period both confirms and contradicts this account. Some papers from this century show no indication of starch when tested with iodine. Others react positively. Therefore, either no starch sizing was used, or the starch has degraded over the centuries, Similarly, eleventh century papers can either be unpolished ‘and quite rough, or polished to a moderate or high degree. From this period onwards there is greater uniformity of sizing and polishing, starch is always present and the surface varies from smooth to highly polished. Beit-Arie ‘makes the point that papers of the Islamic West tend to show the polishing marks made by the burnisher whereas those of the Islamic East do not. The point is well made when examining papers of the Mamluk period because tracks lelt by the polishing tool can seldom be detected. When wetted, this papor can show the trail of the cloth or 31 Don Baker sponge which laid the starch size. If laid onto paper which had already been flattened by pressing, the natural sheen af the starch paste would need only buffing to produce the surface typical of paper of the Mamluk period, ‘The soribe bought paper folded; some folio Qur’ans show this fold, Paper colour even today can range from an astonishing whiteness to a handsome buff, Typically, a sheet would be 0.16-0.20mmin thickness and weigh about 140gs.m. Arab paper is seldom seriously acidic except where it has been caused by the ink. Arab paper has one curious characteristic which has been misunderstood in the past. As a result of giving two hard surtaces to a paper with little adhesion between the fibres, there is a tendency for the paper to split in two, Von Karabacek observed this ‘and concluded that all oriental paper was made by sticking two sheets together, one wove, one laid! ‘Arab paper is included in the loose bibliographical term ‘Oriental paper’. In my article A note on the expression ‘..a ‘manuscript on Oriental paper’, | suggested some details that can help the reader to visualise that particular paper. From examination of one hundred and thirty manuscripts over the last ten years | have categorised several charac- teristics of the text papers, They are; paper thickness; surface characteristics (rough or smooth}: colour (mainly off-white, from biscuit through to brown); surface teat ments such as polishing or coating, pulp characteristics and ‘see-through’; paper mould characteristic: laid or wove; laid and chain line distribution; rib shadows, and estimated paper size, Decline of Arab papermaking The Arab world was a unit of enormous economic potential. Information on Middle East exports is not wide- ranging, but itis known that at various times during the Middle Ages textiles, sugar and paper featured in trans- Mediterranean commerce. Parallels with the paper industry canbe drawn by comparing the textile or sugar industries of the Middle East. Increasingly successful European cam petition did not suppress these industries butt cid cause a drop in volume of output and a reversal of the trend from ‘export to import. European textile manutacture was techni- cally more advanced giving a cheaper and more desirable product. At home, the successful oriental merchant was ever vulnerable to arbitrary financial squeezing by princes to pay for an expensive army. Profits passed from the merchants 10 the Mamluk amis, the ruling princes; governmental intervention reduced incentives for techno- logical change; faling revenues further discouraged invest- meni. The twelfth century quotation; ‘There is no pest worse for erops than the tyranny of Kings’, could be applied equally to the paper industry during the Mamluk ea, The Mamluks of Egypt fell to the invading Ottomans in 1817. Craftsmen were taken back as spoils of war ta the new Ottoman imperial capita, Istanbul. Papermaking did not flourish in this new environment, although traditional ‘Oriental’ paper continued to be made in the Levant, probably in Damascus. As Cairo steadily became an artistic ‘and commercial backwater, s0 the cralt of fine paper making died. By the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries the paper sold in Egypt came almost exciusively from Europe. This was to be the situation until the nineteenth‘ARAB PAPERMAKING Fig. 3. Qur'an, Mamiuk period, late 15th century Shows high degree of polish and cenite fold across paper. Fig. 4 Qur'an page, mid 14th contury, Mamluk period, Shows double chain ines, Transmitted ight. Fig. 5 Qur'an page showing splitting of paper, Mamluk period, sid 14th century, 32Don Baker sinaceneahas Soy, otra ig. 6 Qur'an, Mamiuk period, mid 14th ‘century. Shows paper fold across centre. Fig. 7 Qur'an, Mamiuk perios, 4th ‘century. Shows double chain lines and ni shadows (dark circles are gold-eat verso marks}, Fansmitted ight Fig. 8 Our'an page, Lovant, Onoman, ‘mig 16th century folowing the Ara tradition al papermaking 33ARAB PAPERMAKING century when machine papermaking started in Egypt. To my knowledge theres stil no modern hand papermakingin the Arab world Conclusion In this survey of Arab paper, | am very aware that, with the exception of Ibn Badis’s writings, | have described pri cipally what might be called Syro-Egyptian paper. OF this paper, prodigious amounts survive. The Maghrib, that is, the western region of North Africa, has been less fortunate, Paper from this region did not command a high reputation and competed evenless successfully with European paper. Much more important to the history of papermaking was the contribution of Muslim Spain. Possibly it was here, in the course of the struggles between Isiam and Christianity, that the ‘jealously-quarded” secret escaped, The paper produced had characteristics unique to that region. It is, only in Spain that anything approaching 3 western water mark is found, It is not a true watermark, but 2 zig-2a9 indentation running from the head to the foot of the sheet. The paper of Muslin Spain has been well documented by Valls | Subira, to whom readers are referred.” Paper had uses both religious and secular, From early on, Islam unlike Christianity end Judaism, the, other two religions of the Book, found paper to be 2 suitable vehicle for writing their Holy Book, the Qur’an,* Mustim devotion was expressed in fine book making, calligraphy, and goo: metric ar floral based illumination. There was also a strong secular literature, usually decorated with a simpler form of lilurnination, Figurative painting is to be found in encyclapaedias of the ‘Wonders of the World’ variety and illustrating the essentially Arabic literary form of dramatic anecdote called magamat or Assemblies. Notes on the implications for conservation How do the particular properties of Arab paper affect the paper conservator? These early paper manuscripts regularly astound the modern reader by their fine condition. This must be ascribed to a great degree to their continuing high pH Arab paper softens quickly with wear, causing it to absorb grime, When intact, the starch size can form an efficient bartier lo ditt, frass and sometimes even candle fat. An Arab collector | know changed his altitude to some manuscript siains which offended him, when | explained their cause; in his youth he also had learned the Qui‘an by candlelight. hard starch coating can allow Arab paper an occasions to be lightly sponged without damaging the surtace, Conversely it can sometimes be difficult to avoid water staining when applying repairs using paste, due to the high absorbency of damaged paper. Under these circum: slances, a brush loaded with industrial methylated spirits [95% ethanol, 5% methanol] applied to the repair dilutes the water content sufficiently ta prevent staining Geiatine size is not the Arab tradition, so | resize where necessary by boning in thin starch paste ar, when working ‘on a bound manuscript, by the use of Klucel G in alcohol The tradition of using a starch paste to size paper means 34 Inevitably that a water-damaged Arabic manuscript can present serious problems of blocking The tendency of Arab paper to split can be useful. | have occasionally lined disintegrating pages intemally, More often, whore there is a tear through the text, I have used a strip of tissue internaly in the text area, with a stronger patch in the margin. The result is legibility with strength APPENDIX - Chronology Date Egypt Syria, Palestine 634 Four Rashidun caliphs. 661 Umayyads. 750 Abbasids. 368) Tulurids 905 Abbasids, 935 Ikhsdidids oat Ikhsdidias| 969 Fatimids wt Ayyubids. 1280 Bahri Mamluks 1260 Bahri Mamiuks 1372 Burii Mamluks 1516 Ottomans: 117 Ottomans References, 1.» All dates ate given in CE, thot is Chistian or cormmon era, 2 Hit, PK, History ofthe Arabs, London, 1982, p 210. 3. Nichalson, R.A. Literary History of the Arabs, Cambridge, 1985, 9 356. 4. "Presumably the early tenth century Samanié Vizier Abu ‘Abaulah Muhammad Ahmad al-taihany’ The Lotail st Ma‘aot of alThaaliti, Bosworth, CE. ltrans), Edinburgh 1968, p. 140, 5. ibid. 6 140, ©. thn Kheldun, The Mugaddimah, Rosenthal, London, 1967, p. 328 Karaacek, J won, ‘Das Arabische Papier’, trom Mirtadungen 4s der Sammlung der Papycus Ercherzog Raine%, 2-3, 1857. Vienna, pp. 96-100, [ansiation, Bake, D_and Dittmar, S Arab Paper, London, 1991.) 8 Levey, M. Medieval Arabic Bookmating and its Relation to Early Chemisty and Pharmacology, Priladelohia, 1962, 2. 29, Levey gives the Arabic word for hema, but tansiates it fl 9 al-Hassan, AY, and Hil Cambadge, 1986, 9.242 10. Abbor, N., ’A Ninth Century Fragment of the "Thousand (trans. DR. Islamic Technology, Nights, Jounal of Near Eastern Stes, Vol. 8, 1949, pp. 129-164, M1. Goutein, SB, A Mediterranean Society, Vol. 1, California, 1968, pp. 1-2 12. Goitein, SD, bid, pp B1, 112. 13. Goitein, $D, Letters of Medieval Jewish Baders, Princeton, 1973, pp. 20, 89-90, 14. Irigain, J. ‘Les Tynes des Formes utilsés dans Orient Méditerranden ‘Syria, Egyptes du Xie au XIVe siécl, Papiergeschichte, Mainz, 1311-21963, pp. 19-20. 18. Karabacek, von, oe. ct, pp. 154-156. 16. Beit, “M, Hebrew "Codicology, Jerusalem, 1981 pp. 27-32 17. Christies, London, 211/86, lotna. 36. 18, Witkam, J.J, ed. Manuscripts of the Midale East, Leiden, 1989. 19, Udowtch, AL, The Islamic Midsle Fost, 700-1900, Princeton, 1981, pp. 14-1720, Lapidus, IM. Muslim cities in the Later Middle Ags Cambridge, 1984, pp. 23,35, 21, Raymond, A, Arisants et Commercants au Caire av XVillome Sibcie, Damascus, 1973-4, 0. 343. 22, Valls Subira, 0, ‘Paper and Watermarks in Catalonia’. Vol Monuments’ Chartae Papyraceze Historiam Musiranta, ‘Amsterdam, 1970, pp. 348 23, Peter the Venerabie, Auto! af Cluny, showed his aversion to paperin 1141, dascribingits raw material as scraps of old 29s, fr, perhaps, even viler stl. Vals Subsra, 0, bi. p. 6. Acknowledgements This article abaul Arab paper is offered as a tribute to those craftsmen who lived so long ago and preduced paper of such beauty and durabalty, IMy sincere thanks to Dr. Richard Fisher far encouraging me to put pen to paper and to Dr. George Scanlon, Dr Jan Just Witkar, Dr Robert Jones and Or. Derek Priest for their suggestions concerning this article, Thanks are due also to Mir. Yasin Sataci for assistance throughout Summary Tha Fistary of Arab papermaking followed through the words of Classical Arab writers and through the examples of paper that have survived. The characteristics, varying with time, ae described and are related to paper conservation. The failure of the Arab paper industry through a numberof factors, both internaland external, traces Résumé . LUnistoie de fa fabrication du papier par les Arabs eat conaue & leavers les écnits des auteurs classiques arabes et par les exemple ‘de papier qui nous sont parverus. Las caractéristiques, variant aut cours du tomes, sant décrites et mises en ralation avec la Conservation du papiet. La chuto de industri papetire arabe est fevracée & travers un certain nombre de facteurs tant interes quexteines. Zusammenfassung Die Geschichteder arab schen Papierherstellung wird anhand von Schniten kiessischer arabischer Autoren und anhand von Papiermustern, die uberdavert haben, verfolgt In ihrer zeitichen Ablolge variorende Charakteristika werden beschrieben und aul die Papierkonservierung bezogen, Den verschiedenen intornen lund exlernen Faktoren, die” zum Scheitern der arabuschen Papierindustrie getunrthaber, wird auf den Grund gegangen. Biography Alter marty years as a pictute tremer, Don Baker studied papar conservation at Camberwell Schoo! of Art. In 1980 he became an Independent paper conservator, spocalising inthe cate and repatt (Islamic manuscripts. He designed the conservation feciitias at the King Faisal Centre for Research and Isiamic Studies n Riyadh ‘and has subsequently worked and lectured thare. He as worked ‘on projects for the Kuwait Nations) Museum and for the past 7 vars has been a visiting lecture at Camberwell. In 1988 he gained 2 iploma af higher education In Arabic Studies and rs presently ‘working Tor a degiee in the subjeet. He has written papers on a variety of tapics concerned with Islamic bookbinging and orien paper and has tanslated a treatise on Aeab paper Contact address; 3, Canonbury Park South, London, NT 28, England 35 Don Baker