Historians recently revealed their discovery of an ancient purple dye factory in modern Israel, revealing a glimpse of life in biblical times.
Historians announced in an article published in the recent publication of Prous One that Tel Shiqmona, an archaeological mound south of the Israeli city of Haifa, was discovered. The location is located on the Mediterranean coast.
"It can be considered without a doubt as a professional facility for large-scale and long-term production of profitable purple dyes," said the author of the article.
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The history of this site dates back to 1100 BC during the Iron Age. From a biblical perspective, the site predates the reign of Kings Solomon and David for more than a century and may become more complicated over time.
“This is the only place around the Near East or Mediterranean, and in fact, around the world – a series of purple Dye workshops have been conducted and there is clear evidence that purple dyes have been continuously made in a millennium of the Iron Age, and purple dyes have been continuously made in a millennium of dedicated facilities,” the article describes. ”
Historians recently published discoveries about the ancient purple dye factory. Purple dyes were valued in ancient times, as seen in Justinian's robe (illustration, right). (Maria Bukin / PLOS; GetTyemes)
“The number and diversity of artifacts associated with purple dye manufacturing is unparalleled.”
The picture shows the vat fragments with purple stains, as well as purple residues on various stone tools. What makes the site so unique is that it produces purple dyes on industrial scales - historians previously believed that the Romans introduced this in the first century AD
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The dye was harvested by crushing the shells of certain mollusks, highly valued in ancient times and mentioned many times in the Bible. A biblical reference to purple dye is Acts 16:14, which describes a businesswoman.
Archaeologists were able to piece together VAT fragments from the factory site. (Moshe Caine / Plos)
The verse reads: "A listener is Lydia, a woman from the city of Tiratila, a dealer of purple cloth." "She is a worshiper of God. The Lord opens his heart to respond to Paul's message."
In Mark 15:17, Jesus was humiliated by the kidnapper in a purple cloth because the color was related to the royal family.
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The verse says, “They dressed him with a purple cloak; and after twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on him.”
At Tel Shiqmona, researchers used a variety of techniques, including chemical and mineralogical analyses, to understand each artifact found. Archaeologist Golan Shalvi said in an interview with new scientists that molluscs secrete green liquid when crushed, and the oxidized liquid turns purple.
Purple dyes are made from crushing the shells of certain types of molluscs. (Moshe Caine / Plos)
"However, in order to convert it into an actual dye - a dye that is chemically combined with textiles - it has to be processed into a solution through a series of complex chemical steps," Salve explained.
"It's an industrial site throughout the Iron Age, without monumental architecture or any particular beauty or elegance," he added. "I think it's a very smelly place, especially with the modern nose - because the production process emits a terrible smell. I imagined wool dyeing the wool in various shades inside and outside the building, which could give the site a purple red-blue tone."
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The analyst team found that Tel Shiqmona's factories produced purple dyes and dyed them into fibers and wool instead of simply producing dyes.
The article explains: "The size and opening of the barrel will immerse the wool or fiber in the barrel."
Archaeologists believe that Tel Shiqmona’s location supports industrial-scale dye manufacturing processes. (Moshe Caine / Plos)
"Given their weight, it's unlikely to move the barrels, nor to tilt them. Creating dye in these very large containers and then transferring them to other containers for dyeing (in Shiqmona or elsewhere) doesn't seem like a viable process to rebuild."
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“So we concluded that the entire manufacturing industry from harvesting snails to dyeing was done on site and dyeing was performed in one container, which was obviously a fairly efficient process.”