Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel)

Abstract

In the context of a broad study aimed at examining dyeing technologies in the Timna textiles collection, three samples of prestigious fibers dyed with murex sea snail were identified. Our identification is based on the presence of 6-monobromoindigotin and 6,6-dibromoindigotin components (detected using HPLC analysis), which is considered unequivocal evidence for the use of murex-derived purple dyestuff. Furthermore, by comparing the analytical results with those obtained in a series of controlled dyeing experiments we were able to shed more light on the specific species used in the dyeing process and glean insights into the ancient dyeing technology. The samples originated from excavations at the extensive Iron Age copper smelting site of “Slaves’ Hill” (Site 34), which is tightly dated by radiocarbon to the late 11th–early 10th centuries BCE. While evidence for the important role of purple dyes in the ancient Mediterranean goes back to the Middle Bronze Age (early 2nd millennium BCE), finds of dyed textiles are extremely rare, and those from Timna are the oldest currently known in the Southern Levant. In conjunction with other observations of the very high quality of the Timna textiles, this provides an exceptional opportunity to address questions related to social stratification and organization of the nomadic society operating the mines (early Edom), the “fashion” of elite in the region during the early Iron Age, trade connections, technological capabilities, and more.

More than just a color: Archaeological, analytical, and procedural aspects of Late Bronze Age purple-dye production at Cape Kolonna, Aegina

“…In accordance with previous evidence [ 26 , 29 ] our results again demonstrate that chemical analysis of preserved purple pigment remains allows the identification and rough quantification of exploited muricid taxa. In the case of Late Bronze Age Aegina, it is very likely that almost exclusively Hexaplex trunculus specimens were processed.…”

“…Pigment residues have rarely been preserved on the interior of containers/ceramic vessels, [ 20 – 23 ], on grinding or dyeing installations of workshops [ 24 ], on textiles [ 14 , 25 , 26 ] or as pigments of wall paintings [ 27 , 28 ]. Chemical analysis of these pigments using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) revealed a significant difference between Hexaplex trunculus with rather high amounts of Monobromoindigotin (MBI) and lower contents of Dibromoindigotin (DBI) on the one hand, and Bolinus brandaris and Stramonita haemastoma with an opposite ratio of these substances on the other [ 29 , 30 ].…”

Fuel exploitation and environmental degradation at the Iron Age copper industry of the Timna Valley, southern Israel

“…3 ha in area, whose steep cliffs provide limited access to the site. Originally termed the "Slaves' Hill" by the first surveyors and excavators of the valley due to its restrictive access and fortification walls, which gave the impression of a prison camp 51 , the recent www.nature.com/scientificreports/ excavations have suggested the opposite: that the workers of the smelting camp were esteemed individuals fed choice cuts of meat and granted access to food and supplies coming from the distant Mediterranean region 52,53 , and were adorned in intricate textiles dyed using innovative and complicated chemical procedures requiring exotic plants and mollusks 54,55 . One large slag mound-Slag Mound 19-was excavated in 2013 (Fig.…”

Oveja negra, cordero blanco. La creación de lana para teñir por selección artificial de la oveja doméstica

“…De allí son los concheros más antiguos conocidos del género Bolinus, una de las fuentes naturales del pigmento púrpura, datados hace unos 4.000 años, siendo muy posible que esta técnica de tinción fuese difundida desde allí al resto de la cuenca mediterránea (Militello, 2014). Hay constancia de su conocimiento en diferentes yacimientos del Levante y Palestina entre el 1400 y el 1200 a. C. (García Vargas, 2020;Sukenik et al, 2021).…”