Biblical 'royal' purple cloth scraps from era of Kings David, Solomon found in Israel

[PeteS in CA]

Biblical 'royal' purple cloth scraps from era of Kings David, Solomon found in Israel

https://www.christianpost.com/news/royal-purple-cloth-scraps-from-king-davids-era-found-in-israel.html

Rare purple cloth scraps from the era dating back to the time of King David and King Solomon, approximately 3,000 years ago, have been discovered in Israel.

Researchers in southern Israel found the remnants of woven wool fabric that had been dyed the color of royal purple while examining textiles from the Timna valley, a copper production district of King Solomon's day.

Through the use of radiocarbon testing, the samples of fabric were dated at around 1000 BC.

In ancient times purple cloth was a luxury item, and those who wore it were associated with the nobility, priests, and royalty. The dye used to make the color was sourced from a few kinds of mollusks in the Mediterranean Sea. The dye was produced from a gland located within the body of the mollusk by way of a complex chemical process that took several days to occur.
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She added: "Until the current discovery, we had only encountered mollusc-shell waste and potsherds with patches of dye, which provided evidence of the purple industry in the Iron Age."

"Now, for the first time, we have direct evidence of the dyed fabrics themselves, preserved for some 3,000 years."