Archaeologists have discovered a rare artifact that is found throughout the Bible’s Old Testament.
They discovered a 3,800-year-old textile colored with ‘scarlet worm,’ a dye that is mentioned 25 times in scripture, in a cave in Israel.
The red dye was created from the carcasses and eggs of an insect, which people would grind up into a power to color garments.
The textile featured woolen threads dyed red, which had been weaved through uncolored linen threads to form a lattice-like design.
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the findings on Thursday, after finding the less than two-centimeter textile hiding in the ‘Cave of Skulls’ in the Judean Desert.
The textile featured woolen threads dyed red, which had been weaved through uncolored linen threads to form a lattice-like design
The ‘scarlet worm’ mentioned in the Bible is a scale insect, which lives in oak trees, with the main species of the ancient world being Kermes.
The females and their eggs produce carminic acid, which gives the dye its red color.
People would collect the bugs, sprinkle them with vinegar, dry out the carcasses and then grind the remains into a powder used to color cloth and garments.
‘The red hue, ranging from orange to pink and crimson, has held significant historical symbolism and importance, the team shared in the study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Archaeological Science.
‘The red color from the scale insects which are based on molecules such as kermesic acid or carminic acid are both stable and beautiful, making them much more prestigious than vegetal dye sources.’
The scarlet dye is known as as shani or tola’at shani in Hebrew (meaning crimson worm) and is featured throughout the Old Testament either alone or in conjunction with other precious dyes, including the blue and purple dyes from marine snails.
In Leviticus 14:16 states: ‘As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird killed over the running water.’
The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) announced the findings on Thursday, after finding the less than two-centimeter textile hiding in the ‘Cave of Skulls’ in the Judean Desert
The ‘scarlet worm’ mentioned in the Bible is a scale insect, which lives in oak trees, with the main species of the ancient world being Kermes. The females and their eggs produce carminic acid, which gives the dye its red color
The deep red color is also mentioned in Exodus a handful of times, specifically in Chapter 26, verse 1: ‘Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled worker.’
The use of ‘Kermes’ is also mentioned in the Stockholm papyrus, which contains 154 recipes for dying, coloring gemstones, cleaning pearls and imitation gold and silver.
The manuscript dates back to between 200 and 100 BC.
The red dye from kermes was also mentioned in ancient trade documents, such as in cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, dating back to 1425 BC.
The team discovered the ancient textile in Israel, finding a plant-based material from the southern Levant that was used to make the fibers and the weft threads were fashioned from wool.
‘This textile is a weft-faced tabby, with approximately 50 threads per cm in the weft system and 10 threads per cm in the warp,’ the study reads.
The weft threads are tightly arranged, while warp threads are spaced further apart.
The team discovered the ancient textile in Israel, finding a plant-based material from the southern Levant that was used to make the fibers and the weft threads were fashioned from wool
The team found several ancient textiles in the cave, but only one was dyed with the Biblical color
The weft threads exhibited a bride red color, which was woven between undyed warp threads.
Researchers determined the dyes using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method, which separates compounds dissolved in a liquid sample to identify components in the mixture.
They then compared the findings with a database containing standards with known chemical components, revealing kermesic acid that is secreted by the insects.
The textile was dated to the Middle Bronze Age (1767-1954 BC) using carbon-14 analysis.
Dr Naama Sukenik from the IAA said: ‘This advanced analytical method enabled us to pinpoint the dye’s origin down to the exact species of scale insect.
‘Thus, we can determine with high probability that in ancient times, the textile was dyed using a species of Kermes vermilio, which produces kermesic acid, imparting the distinctive red hue.’
Researchers determined the dyes using the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis method, which separates compounds dissolved in a liquid sample to identify components in the mixture
Professor Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University said: ‘The term ‘worm’ in ancient times was a general term for various insects and their developmental stages.
The Biblical association of this color with a living creature demonstrates impressive zoological knowledge, considering that female scale insects lack legs and wings, to the extent that some Greek and Roman naturalists even mistook them for plant granules.
‘Throughout history, various species of scale insects have been used to produce red dye.
‘To this day, in South America, another species of cochineal scale insect, which lives on certain species of cacti, is used for dyeing textiles.
Despite the wealth of written historical evidence about the widespread use of dyeing with scale insects in the ancient world, until today, very few textiles dyed with kermes insects that predate the Roman period have been found worldwide.
‘The important find bridges the gap between written sources and the archaeological discoveries, providing evidence that the ancient textile dyeing industry was — already at this stage, sufficiently established for dyeing using animals,’ Dr Sukenik said.
‘The rare textile is a testament to broad international commercial networks functioning already at this time and indicates the presence of an elite society.’