Florentine papyri under examination: the material study of the inks used at the beginning of the Common Era in the “Family of Kôm Kâssûm” Archive (Hermopolis)

In the panorama of the writing inks used in the Late Antiquity, carbon inks with metallic admixtures from the first two centuries of the Common Era found on some selected papyri from a family archive in Hermopolis play an important role. The great diversity of inks found in a single household within a short period of time suggests that inks were purchased rather than self-made.