Unearthed Fabric
Has Biblical Color
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Ramat Gan, Israel (JTA) — A
2,000-year-old fabric unearthed
at the historic site of Masada 30
years ago contains a rare, long-
lost color mentioned in the Bible,
according to the scientist who an-
alyzed the remnant.
One expert called the discov-
ery "very important, because
nothing of this dye has ever been
found in Israel on an actual fab-
ric."
Zvi Koren, an expert on an-
cient fabrics at the Shenkar Col-
lege of Textile Technology and
Fashion in the Tel Aviv suburb
of Ramat Gan, believes that the
reddish-purple dye found on the
fabric is the long-lost "argaman,"
one of the colors used for the
priestly vestments and textile
coverings for the Holy Taberna-
cle.
Purple dyes were also used for
the robes of ancient Assyrian and
Babylonian kings, Persian roy-
alty and Roman emperors and
Caesars, Mr. Koren said.
According to the Talmud, arga-
man, which in modern Hebrew
means "purple," was extracted
from sea snails.
Mr. Koren began his high-tech
analysis of the remnant at the re-
quest of the British Museum in
London, which is now exhibiting
fabrics excavated at Masada.
Prior to mounting the exhibit,
the museum contacted Shenkar's
center for the analysis of ancient
textiles, the only such facility in
the Middle East.
Using a state-of-the-art tech-
nique known as liquid chro-
matographic instrumentation,
Mr. Koren was able to determine
the chemical nature of the color
from a very small sample of fab-
ric.
Most of the other Masada tex-
tiles that have been unearthed
were colored with plant dyes.
r
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