It is well established that the ink pigment used for writing the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) is mainly composed of carbon soot. The ink's binder however has yet to be securely identified. By applying EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate containing strong anion and cation exchangers admixed with C₈ and C₁₈) diskettes on one fragment and analyzing the captured material, the following study was able to determine the composition of the binder. Proteins admixed of plant proteins (ribulose biphosphate carboxylase, rhamnogalacturonate lyase, α-galactosidase A, calmodulin, among those identified) as well as of a few glycoproteins with different combinations of pentosyl and hexosyl units with plant acids (stearic, palmitic, oleic, linoleic and linolenic acids) and terpenes (triacontanol, catechin, lupeol) are mixed attributes of acacia trees which suggests the use of gum Arabic as the ink's binder.

Significance

Whereas a huge body of reports has explored any possible aspect of the Dead Sea Scrolls, including the dating and the animal origin of the parchment, one aspect had not been investigated so far, namely which kind of ligand had been adopted to ensure a firm binding of the ink (in reality carbon soot) to the supporting parchment. In the present investigation it has been demonstrated that this “glue” is a mixture of plant proteins, as well as a few glycoproteins, together with plant acids and terpenes. These proteins and metabolites belong to two species of trees, Vachellia nilotica and Acacia Albida, widespread in this Middle East region. The EVA methodology here adopted has shown that it is possible to explore any item pertaining to the world Cultural Heritage in the absence of damage or contamination thus permititng to analyze any possible precious document stored in museum, public libraries and private collections.

中文翻译：

---

第 11 窟死海古卷碎片中字母墨水的蛋白质组学和代谢组学组成 (P1032-Fr0)

众所周知，用于书写死海古卷 (DSS) 的墨水颜料主要由碳烟灰组成。然而，墨水的粘合剂尚未被安全识别。通过应用 EVA（含有强阴离子和阳离子交换剂的乙烯醋酸乙烯酯与 C ₈和 C ₁₈) 磁盘上的一个碎片并分析捕获的材料，以下研究能够确定粘合剂的组成。与植物蛋白（核酮糖二磷酸羧化酶、鼠李糖半乳糖醛酸裂解酶、α-半乳糖苷酶 A、钙调素等）以及一些具有戊糖基和己糖基单元与植物酸（硬脂酸、棕榈酸、油酸、亚油酸）不同组合的糖蛋白混合的蛋白质和亚麻酸）和萜烯（三十烷醇、儿茶素、羽扇豆醇）是金合欢树的混合属性，这表明使用阿拉伯树胶作为墨水的粘合剂。

意义

尽管有大量报告探讨了死海古卷的任何可能方面，包括羊皮纸的年代和动物来源，但迄今为止还没有研究过一个方面，即采用了哪种配体来确保牢固的结合墨水（实际上是碳烟灰）到支撑羊皮纸。在目前的调查中，已经证明这种“胶水”是植物蛋白以及一些糖蛋白以及植物酸和萜烯的混合物。这些蛋白质和代谢物属于两种树木，Vachellia nilotica 和 Acacia Albida，在这个中东地区普遍存在。此处采用的 EVA 方法表明，可以在没有损坏或污染的情况下探索与世界文化遗产有关的任何项目，从而允许分析存储在博物馆、公共图书馆和私人收藏中的任何可能的珍贵文件。