In a study of avoidable dye fabrics, which lasted several years, to the surprise of the researchers, remnants of fabric, strand and wool fibers, dyed in the royal crimson color, were discovered. Carbon-14 direct dating has determined that the finds date to around the year 1,000 BC. According to the Bible, the period of David and Solomon in Jerusalem. The color, produced from snail species in the Mediterranean, more than 300 km away from avoidance, is mentioned many times in the Bible and appears in various contexts in the Jewish and Christian traditions.
This is the first time that a crimson-painted fabric from the Iron Age has been found in Israel and the southern Levant. The study was led by Dr. Naama Sukenik of the Israel Antiquities Authority and Prof. Erez Ben-Yosef of the Department of Archeology at Tel Aviv University, in collaboration with Prof. Zohar Amar, Dr. David Iluz and Dr. Alexander Verwak of Bar Ilan University and Dr. Orit Shamir of the Israel Antiquities Authority .
Slave Hill in Timna Park (Photo: Erez Ben Yosef and the Timna Excavation Project of Tel Aviv University)“This is an exciting and very important discovery,” said Dr. Naama Sukenik, curator of organic finds at the Israel Antiquities Authority – “This is the first time a piece of fabric from the time of David and Solomon has been discovered, painted in the prestigious crimson. Crimson attire was attributed in ancient times to nobles, priests and of course kings. “The beautiful color of the crimson, the fact that it does not fade and the difficulty in producing the color found in the snail’s body in a tiny amount – all these made it the most expensive color, whose price was often higher than that of gold.”
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“Until the current discovery, we only knew of snail debris, and ceramic fragments with paint stains, which were evidence of the crimson industry in the Iron Age, but this is the first time we have direct evidence of the dyed fabrics themselves, which have been preserved for about 3,000 years.”
Prof. Ben-Yosef said that a delegation from Tel Aviv University has been digging in Timna continuously since 2013. “Thanks to the extreme dryness of the place, we are also able to find organic materials such as fabrics, ropes and skins from the Iron Age, a collection that gives us a unique glimpse into life The Bible, “he explained,” even if we dig another 100 years in Jerusalem, we will not find fabrics from 3,000 years ago. ” According to him, the preservation in Timna is exceptional, and it is equivalent only to much later sites such as Masada and Bar Kochba Caves. “In recent years, we have been digging a new site inside Timna called ‘Slave Hill.’
Map of the Land of Israel in the Iron Age (Photo: Erez Ben Yosef, Naama Sukenik)According to the researchers, real crimson was produced from three species of snails living in the Mediterranean: dull-thorned crimson, single-thorned crimson and red-mouthed crimson. The analytical tests conducted at Bar Ilan University Laboratories, the color reproductions made by Prof. Zohar Amar and Dr. Naama Sukenik, can indicate the species they used to dye Timna fabrics and the shades they wanted to achieve. Cracked thousands of snails (which the Italians eat) and extracted from their dye glands a material that was used for hundreds of attempts to recreate the ancient dyeing. “.
Prof. Ben-Yosef identifies the site of copper production in Timna with the biblical Kingdom of Edom, which bordered the Kingdom of Israel to the south. According to him, the dramatic findings should revolutionize the way we think about nomadic societies throughout the Iron Age. “The new findings reinforce our assumption that Timna was an elite, meaning that society there was stratified,” he estimated – in addition, since the snails originated in the Mediterranean, this society probably had trade ties with other peoples, who lived on the coastal plain. But nevertheless, we do not see the Red Kingdom as permanent settlements. The kingdom of Edom was a nomadic kingdom. “