First evidence of purple pigment production and dyeing in southern Arabia (Sumhuram, Sultanate of Oman) revealed by mass spectrometric and chromatographic techniques

Ribechini, Erika; Pérez-Arantegui, Josefina; Pavan, Alexia; Degano, Ilaria; Zanaboni, Marco; Colombini, Maria Perla

doi:10.1016/j.culher.2015.11.006

Cited by 8 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…However, to date, there is no archaeological or scientific evidence to support this hypothesis. The earliest scientific evidence suggesting purple dyeing in the Gulf area goes back to only 3rd-5th century CE [36]. Fragments of pottery vessels used as dyed baths were analyzed revealing the presence of shellfish purple [36].…”

Section: The Discovery Of the Purple Colorantmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Shellfish purple has been identified in several textiles and objects related to the textile industry of antiquity e.g., post sherds [7,[30][31][32][33][34]36,42,[46][47][48][49]58,. As summarized in Table 2, it has been scientifically proved that the valuable dye was used by the Minoans, Hurrians, Phoenicians, Persians, Greeks (in various periods), Etruscans, Jews, Romans, Sarmatians, Copts-Egyptians, Arabs (pre-Islamic period) and Byzantines.…”

Section: Textilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Minoan (Crete) [49] Hurrian (Chagar Bazar, Qatna) [47,48] Phoenician [76][77][78][79][80][81] Phoenician-Punic [82] Submycenaean/Protogeometric (Greek) [83] Orientalising/early Archaic (Etruscan) [84] Archaic (Greek) [85] Persian [46] Classical (Greek) [7,[86][87][88] Hellenistic (Greek & Etruscan) [58,[89][90][91] Jewish [92] Roman [31][32][33][93][94][95][96] Sarmatian [97,98] Coptic-Egyptian [34,97,[99][100][101][102][103][104] Arab (pre-Islamic period) [36] Byzantine [7,30,42] Case Study: Identification of Shellfish Purple in a Hellenistic Textile…”

Section: Provenance Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Karapanagiotis

2019

Sustainability

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Shellfish purple, also known as Tyrian purple and royal purple, has a long history, which has been revealed and documented in recent years through valid physicochemical studies using sophisticated techniques. The aim of the work was to summarize the conclusions of these studies and to describe the results of two unpublished investigations regarding the (i) identification of shellfish purple in a textile (4th century BCE) from ancient Macedonia and (ii) dramatic effect of the dyeing conditions on the composition of the purple dye. Moreover, a critical discussion is included about the discovery of the shellfish pigment and dye based on the available scientific evidence. Previously published reports describing the identification of the shellfish colorant in objects of the cultural heritage were carefully summarized. Shellfish purple was not used only as colorant, but it served other purposes as emphasized in this review. In particular, examples for the use of shellfish purple in medicine, grave goods and fillers and plasters in walls, were described. Examples of materials and methods that were used in the past to produce “fake” purple, imitating the aesthetic result of the valuable royal marine material were summarized. Finally, the solubility of indigoids was discussed using modern approaches of physical chemistry.

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Section: The Discovery Of the Purple Colorantmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Textilesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Provenance Referencementioning

confidence: 99%

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A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Karapanagiotis

2019

Sustainability

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“…Mainly occupied by residential edifices (e.g. Buffa & Sedov, 2008;Buffa, Buono & Carbonara, 2019), Sumhuram nevertheless comprises several spaces for productive activities scattered throughout the city, connected with metalworking (Buffa & Sedov, 2008: 19-22), possible pottery making, 5 and dyeing (Ribechini et al, 2016). Specifically designated for storage is quarter B, in the south-eastern corner of the town (Sedov, 2008a).…”

Section: The Town and Its Surroundingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water and power in South Arabia: the excavation of “Monumental Building 1” (MB1) at Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman)

Esposti¹,

Pavan²

2020

Arab Archaeol Epigr

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A few decades later, Sumhuram became the focus of extensive archaeological investigations conducted by the Italian Mission to Oman (IMTO, University of Pisa), headed by Prof. A. Avanzini, in collaboration with the Office of the Adviser to His Majesty the Sultan for Cultural Affairs (Muscat-Salalah, Sultanate of Oman). Over this long period, the layout of the town has been largely revealed, and a main chronological phasing established, which in terms of absolute dates covers a period from the early second century BC to the fifth century AD (Avanzini, 2008; 2017; Buffa, 2019; Pavan & Degli Esposti, 2016) with a highly probable later occupation distinguished by ephemeral dwellings dated to the Late Antiquity and the Early Islamic period. Sumhuram was founded as a distant colony by the kingdom of Ḥaḍramawt, the capital town of which, Shabwa, sits

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“…For certain historical periods, purple textiles and objects were used only by the royal family and priests of high status, stressing the important role of the material in cultural heritage [1]. Shellfish purple has been used since antiquity as pigment in paintings and other heritage objects (e.g., [4][5][6][7]), as dye for textiles (e.g., [8][9][10][11][12]) and for medicinal purposes [13,14] in different areas all over the world [1]. For example, in the Mediterranean area, shellfish purple was systematically used up to the conquest of Constantinople by the Ottomans in 1453 CE [1,3], whereas in South America, it was used in the Middle Preclassic period 1000-400 BCE [15].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of Degradation Products and Components in Shellfish Purple by Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Vasileiadou,

Sampsonidis,

Theodoridis

et al. 2024

Heritage

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Ultrahigh performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) was used to analyze a colorant and silk, which were prepared and dyed using shellfish (Hexaplex trunculus L.) purple. Solutions of colorant and silk extracts were analyzed immediately after preparation (fresh samples) and after storing them in the dark for thirty days (aged sample I). Moreover, a silk sample was subjected to artificially accelerated ageing under UV radiation (aged sample II). The application of the UHPLC-MS/MS method leads to the detection of (i) the major coloring components of shellfish purple, which are indigotin, indirubin, 6-bromoindigotin, 6′-bromoindirubin, 6-bromoindirubin, 6,6′-dibromoindigotin, 6,6′-dibromoindirubin; (ii) four minor indigoid components in shellfish purple (compounds A, B, C and D), which belong to the same structural class as indirubin, and whose identification has been reported only once in the past; and (iii) eight degradation products (isatin, degradation products DP3, DP4, DP5, DP6, DP7, DP9 and DP10). The latter were also detected in stored indigotin solution, except for DP 6, which was used as reference sample. The method development was assisted by a new solution preparation approach for investigating compound fragmentation, using a solvent system compatible with direct infusion ESI. This system replaceddimethyl sulfoxide, which inhibits detection through electrospray ionization.

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First evidence of purple pigment production and dyeing in southern Arabia (Sumhuram, Sultanate of Oman) revealed by mass spectrometric and chromatographic techniques

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

A Review on the Archaeological Chemistry of Shellfish Purple

Water and power in South Arabia: the excavation of “Monumental Building 1” (MB1) at Sumhuram (Sultanate of Oman)

Identification of Degradation Products and Components in Shellfish Purple by Ultrahigh Performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem Mass Spectrometry

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