Rare 3,000-year-old samples of “royal purple” have been discovered at Timna dating to the biblical reigns of King David and Solomon.
A team of researchers led by the Israel Antiquities Authority was exploring the ancient Timna Valley in southern Israel’s Negev, a region known for its ancient copper production , when they discovered a bundle of ancient, colored textiles. Among the cloths was a singular woven fabric, a tassel, and fibers of wool dating from approximately 1000 BC. And these three unique fabric samples were all dyed the legendary “royal purple”.
Biblical Blue Notes, Bordering On Purple
Putting the find in context, the light-purple dyed Iron Age textiles were spun in the same period of time associated with the biblical David and Solomon in Jerusalem, around 3,000-years-ago.
The dye, “royal purple,” which was a reserve of social elites, was produced from mollusks found in the Mediterranean over 300 kilometers (186 miles) from Timna, which itself was a region mentioned several times in the Bible, both in Christian and Jewish contexts. Evidence of a purple dye factory has been found near Haifa further north, however, this is the first time that textiles dyed with the royal purple color have been found in Israel or the Southern Levant .
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