The reflection of the musk color in Persian literature and investigasian of its being dyestuff in old handwrittings and paintings and its accompaniments in Shahnamah

Shahnameh is not just a literary work; it is also an important source that contains information about architecture, medicine, astronomy, dyestuffs and beliefs in ancient Iran.
The color of the musk and the dyeing properties of this material ae referred to in literary texts in various ways, but they are more evidently used in the writing and painting of Shahnameh.
Interestingly, despite the fact that musk and its color are referred to in literary texts, nowadays, it is known more as an aromatic material and its properties as a dye are ignored in Persian dictionaries. This has led to doubts about the color of the substance not only in the interpretation of poems but also in the scientific-historical facts related to the knowledge of dyes (for example, the classification of inks in ancient times).
In this research, first, the reflection of the color of musk in Persian poems has been studied, and its being mentioned as a dyestuff in writings and paintings is proved based on the references in literary texts, especially Shahnameh and books about ancient Iranian dyestuffs.
The musk in Shahnameh literature is a material for writing and painting. It is combined with words such as the anqas (black ink), amber, bitumen, abir, rose water, papagayi (the objects that were written on) Chinese Harir and Indian Parand. Lack of consideration for these items in literary texts has led to the defective interpretation of verses.
In this research, based on the association of musk with other related terms in Shahnameh, the relationship between them and the color of musk has been studied. As the results show, there is a historical background for musk to have been used as a dye and ink in writing and painting. The study also presents discussions with which the poems that point to the color of musk and its accompanying materials will be easily understood.