Iron gall ink
Tinta ferrogálica
- Date
- c. century IV · confidence low
- Place
- Alexandria, Egypt
- Credited to
- Late Antique eastern Mediterranean scribes
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
An ink of oak galls, iron sulphate and gum arabic that darkens as it oxidises and penetrates parchment. It was Europe's standard ink until the 20th century.
Pliny and Philo of Byzantium knew the gall-vitriol reaction, but use as a writing ink is documented in the 4th-5th centuries; the exact origin is uncertain.
What it led to
- indelible medieval manuscripts on parchment
- documents such as the US Declaration of Independence
- fountain-pen inks well into the 20th century