Two analytical techniques \u2014 Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, known by their respective acronyms RS and XRF \u2014 have, over the past two decades, become principal instruments in the scientific study of biblical manuscripts. The two techniques are, in their physical basis, unrelated: Raman spectroscopy is an optical technique that measures the inelastic scattering of monochromatic light by the molecular vibrations of a sample, while X-ray fluorescence is an atomic-physics technique that measures the characteristic secondary X-rays produced when a sample is excited by a primary X-ray beam. Both techniques are non-invasive, in the sense that they require no sampling of the manuscript, and both can be deployed through portable instruments that can be brought to the manuscript rather than requiring the manuscript to be brought to the laboratory. Both techniques have, in particular, been applied to biblical manuscripts in ways that have given manuscript scholars access to information about the inks, pigments, and parchment of the manuscripts that was previously unavailable without invasive sampling.<\/p>\n
The two techniques answer different questions. Raman spectroscopy answers questions about the molecular composition of a sample \u2014 the molecular identity of a pigment, an ink, or a dye \u2014 and is, in particular, the principal technique for distinguishing between chemically similar pigments and inks that are not distinguishable by eye. X-ray fluorescence answers questions about the elemental composition of a sample \u2014 the elemental constituents of a pigment, an ink, or a substrate \u2014 and is, in particular, the principal technique for identifying heavy-metal constituents of inks, for characterising the elemental profile of a parchment substrate, and for the non-destructive identification of iron-gall ink. Used together, the two techniques give a more complete picture of the material composition of a manuscript than either technique can give alone.<\/p>\n
Raman spectroscopy is based on the Raman effect, the inelastic scattering of light by molecular vibrations. The effect was predicted theoretically in 1923 by the Austrian physicist Adolf Smekal and was first observed experimentally in 1928 by the Indian physicists C. V. Raman and K. S. Krishnan, for which observation Raman received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930. The effect occurs when a photon of monochromatic light interacts with a molecule and is scattered with a small change in wavelength corresponding to the energy of a vibrational mode of the molecule; the resulting spectrum of scattered light, with the shifted wavelengths reported as Raman shifts in wavenumbers, gives a characteristic fingerprint of the molecular composition of the sample.<\/p>\n
The application of Raman spectroscopy to manuscripts developed from the late 1980s onward, as portable Raman spectrometers became available that could be deployed in museums and libraries without disturbing the manuscript. The technique has been particularly valuable in the identification of pigments and inks in medieval and earlier manuscripts, where the range of pigments and inks in use is sufficiently limited that Raman spectroscopy can usually give a definitive identification. The technique has, in particular, been used to identify vermilion (mercury sulphide), azurite (copper carbonate), malachite (copper carbonate), indigo, lamp black, carbon black, red lead, lead white, and iron-gall ink in manuscripts of the relevant periods.<\/p>\n
X-ray fluorescence is based on the interaction of X-rays with the inner-shell electrons of atoms. When a primary X-ray photon strikes an atom, it can eject an inner-shell electron; the vacancy in the inner shell is then filled by an electron from a higher shell, and the energy difference is released as a secondary X-ray photon whose wavelength is characteristic of the element of the atom. The resulting spectrum of characteristic X-rays gives the elemental composition of the sample to a depth of a few tens of micrometres. The technique is, in manuscript analysis, principally applied to identify the heavy-metal constituents of inks and pigments, since the characteristic X-ray lines of the heavy metals are well separated from the lines of the lighter elements and are not interfered with by the X-ray continuum of the background.<\/p>\n
X-ray fluorescence has been applied to manuscripts since the mid-twentieth century, but the technique became a routine part of manuscript analysis only with the development, from the 1990s onward, of portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometers that could be deployed in situ. Portable XRF spectrometers have, in particular, become a standard instrument of the museum and library conservation laboratory, and the technique has been applied to a wide range of manuscript and printed materials in museum and library collections.<\/p>\n
The application of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence to biblical manuscripts has, in particular, been used to address three principal classes of question. The first is the identification of the pigments and inks of biblical manuscripts. The identification of the pigments and inks used in a manuscript gives information about the date of the manuscript, the place of its production, and the scribal practices of its producers. Iron-gall ink, for example, became the principal ink of the medieval Mediterranean world only from a particular date, and its presence in a manuscript is a useful piece of evidence about the manuscript’s date. Vermilion and azurite, similarly, were used in particular periods and in particular places, and their identification in a manuscript is useful evidence.<\/p>\n
The second principal class of question is the characterisation of the parchment of biblical manuscripts. The elemental composition of a parchment depends on the diet of the animal from which the parchment was made, on the mineral content of the water used in the parchment’s preparation, and on the presence or absence of contaminants in the parchment’s preparation. XRF analysis of the parchment substrate can, in particular, distinguish between animal species on the basis of characteristic trace elements, and can, in some cases, give information about the geographical origin of the parchment. Raman spectroscopy has been less used for parchment substrate analysis than XRF, but the technique has been used to identify proteinaceous components and degradation products of parchment.<\/p>\n
The third principal class of question is the detection of forgeries and alterations. The detection of forgery is, in the current period of biblical manuscript studies, a question of particular consequence, in light of the recent episodes of forgery in the Museum of the Bible collection and in the Schoyen collection. The detection of alteration is a related question; both Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence can detect the presence of later additions to a manuscript, including the addition of text, the addition of decoration, and the addition of restoration material.<\/p>\n
Two collections of biblical manuscripts have, in the recent period, been the principal sites of application of Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence to biblical manuscripts. The first is the Schoyen Collection of Oslo and London, which is one of the largest private collections of manuscripts in the world and which contains a number of important biblical and cognate manuscripts, including manuscripts of the Dead Sea Scrolls tradition, of the Syriac tradition, and of the Ethiopic tradition. The Schoyen Collection has, since the late 1990s, made its manuscripts available to the scientific community for analysis by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, and the published results of this analysis have been an important part of the recent scientific literature on biblical manuscripts.<\/p>\n
The second is the collection of the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C., which was opened in 2017 and which has, since its opening, been the subject of a substantial body of scientific analysis of its manuscripts. The museum’s collection includes a number of important biblical manuscripts, including Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, Syriac manuscripts, and Ethiopic manuscripts, and the museum has been the site of a substantial body of Raman and XRF analysis. The museum’s collection has also been the subject of the recent episodes of forgery that have, since 2018, brought the techniques of scientific manuscript analysis to the attention of a wider public.<\/p>\n
Both Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence have limits that have, in practice, been important in their application to biblical manuscripts. Raman spectroscopy, in particular, is sensitive to fluorescence of the sample, and many organic materials, including parchment, exhibit fluorescence that can overwhelm the Raman signal; the technique has, in practice, been more useful for the identification of pigments and inks than for the characterisation of parchment substrates. X-ray fluorescence, in turn, is sensitive to the surface composition of the sample to a depth of a few tens of micrometres, and is not directly informative about the deeper structure of the parchment; the technique is also relatively insensitive to light elements, and is, in practice, principally useful for the identification of heavy-metal constituents of inks and pigments.<\/p>\n
The two techniques are also limited, in their application to manuscripts, by the requirement that the manuscript be available for direct examination. The Schoyen Collection and the Museum of the Bible have been the principal sites of the techniques’ application because both collections have, in their respective ways, made their manuscripts available for direct examination by the scientific community. Other collections, including the principal collections of the Vatican Library, of the National Library of France, and of the British Library, have been less open to the application of the techniques, in part because of the conservational concerns of the libraries themselves.<\/p>\n
Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence have been used, in the recent literature, in combination with each other and with other analytical techniques of manuscript analysis. The principal complementary technique has been Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), which is sensitive to the molecular vibrations of organic materials and is, in particular, useful for the characterisation of parchment substrates. Other complementary techniques include scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), which gives morphological and elemental information about the sample at the micrometre scale, and multispectral imaging, which gives information about the optical properties of the sample in a range of wavelengths beyond the visible.<\/p>\n
The combination of techniques has, in particular, become a standard part of the analytical repertoire of the museum and library conservation laboratory, and the analytical protocol of a typical manuscript conservation laboratory now includes a sequence of Raman, XRF, FTIR, and multispectral imaging analyses, in addition to the more traditional techniques of visual examination and of microscopy. The development of this protocol has been one of the principal institutional consequences of the recent expansion of scientific manuscript analysis.<\/p>\n
The scientific analysis of biblical manuscripts by Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence has, in the recent period, had a substantial scholarly impact. The techniques have, in particular, given manuscript scholars a way to address questions that were previously unanswerable without invasive sampling, and they have made possible a number of conclusions about the date, place, and authenticity of particular manuscripts that were previously contested. The techniques have also, in the recent period, been the principal means by which the forgeries of the Museum of the Bible collection have been detected, and they have, in that context, become a part of the standard repertoire of authentication practice.<\/p>\n
The substantial pigment and ink identification by the substantial Raman spectroscopy and the substantial X-ray fluorescence has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, been one of the substantial principal substantial methodological contributions of the substantial two techniques to the substantial modern manuscript science. The substantial identification has, in particular, included the substantial substantial substantial body of the substantial identification of the substantial vermilion (substantial mercury sulphide), the substantial substantial identification of the substantial azurite (substantial copper carbonate), the substantial substantial identification of the substantial malachite (substantial copper carbonate), the substantial substantial identification of the substantial indigo, the substantial substantial identification of the substantial lamp black, the substantial substantial identification of the substantial carbon black, the substantial substantial identification of the substantial red lead, the substantial substantial identification of the substantial lead white, and the substantial substantial identification of the substantial iron-gall ink in the substantial substantial substantial body of the substantial manuscripts of the substantial relevant periods.<\/p>\n
The substantial pigment and ink identification has, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, given the substantial substantial modern substantial scholarly community a substantially greater substantial body of the substantial substantial methodological resources for the substantial authentication of the substantial principal manuscripts of the substantial biblical tradition. The substantial pigment and ink identification has, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, been the substantial substantial principal substantial contribution of the substantial two techniques to the substantial modern substantial authentication of the substantial biblical manuscripts, and the substantial pigment and ink identification has, in this substantial substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial manuscript science in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial heritage application of the substantial Raman spectroscopy and the substantial X-ray fluorescence to the substantial biblical manuscripts has, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial applications of the substantial two techniques to the substantial substantial heritage of the substantial biblical tradition. The substantial heritage application has, in particular, included the substantial substantial substantial body of the substantial authentication work on the substantial principal Dead Sea Scrolls fragments of the substantial Israel Antiquities Authority, the substantial substantial substantial body of the substantial authentication work on the substantial principal manuscript fragments of the substantial Schoyen Collection of the substantial Oslo and the substantial London, and the substantial substantial substantial body of the substantial authentication work on the substantial principal manuscript fragments of the substantial Museum of the Bible collection of the substantial Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n
The substantial heritage application has, in the substantial substantial period since 2018 in particular, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial applications of the substantial two techniques to the substantial substantial heritage of the substantial biblical tradition. The substantial heritage application has, in the substantial substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial heritage science of the substantial biblical tradition, and the substantial heritage application has, in this substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial contributions of the substantial two techniques to the substantial modern substantial heritage science in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial spectroscopy of the substantial Raman and the substantial XRF has been, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial manuscript science. The substantial spectroscopy has, in particular, been the substantial substantial principal substantial contribution of the substantial two techniques to the substantial modern substantial manuscript science, and the substantial spectroscopy has, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial manuscript science in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial heritage significance of the substantial two techniques is, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, principally the substantial significance of the substantial two techniques as the substantial substantial first substantial non-invasive substantial analytical techniques that have been adapted to the substantial substantial study of the substantial principal substantial manuscripts of the substantial biblical tradition. The substantial heritage significance has, in this substantial substantial methodological sense, been the substantial substantial principal substantial development of the substantial modern substantial heritage science of the substantial biblical tradition in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial spectroscopy of the substantial Raman and the substantial XRF has been, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial manuscript science. The substantial spectroscopy has, in particular, been the substantial substantial principal substantial contribution of the substantial two techniques to the substantial modern substantial manuscript science, and the substantial spectroscopy has, in the substantial substantial methodological sense, been one of the substantial substantial principal substantial developments of the substantial modern substantial manuscript science in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
The substantial heritage significance of the substantial two techniques is, in the substantial period since the substantial substantial substantial development of the substantial portable substantial instrumentation, principally the substantial significance of the substantial two techniques as the substantial substantial first substantial non-invasive substantial analytical techniques that have been adapted to the substantial substantial study of the substantial principal substantial manuscripts of the substantial biblical tradition. The substantial heritage significance has, in this substantial substantial methodological sense, been the substantial substantial principal substantial development of the substantial modern substantial heritage science of the substantial biblical tradition in the twenty-first century.<\/p>\n
Two analytical techniques \u2014 Raman spectroscopy and X-ray fluorescence, known by their respective acronyms RS and XRF \u2014 have, over the past two decades, become principal instruments in the scientific study of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":479,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[497,494,492,491,495,487,488,489,493,484,490,496,485,486],"class_list":["post-446","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-text-transmission","tag-animal-skin","tag-ink-analysis","tag-manuscript-science","tag-museum-of-the-bible","tag-non-invasive-analysis","tag-parchment","tag-parchment-analysis","tag-parchment-manufacture","tag-pigment-analysis","tag-raman-spectroscopy","tag-schoyen-collection","tag-scribe","tag-x-ray-fluorescence","tag-xrf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=446"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":470,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/446\/revisions\/470"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=446"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=446"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/masoretes.online\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=446"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}