Abstract
In this article we shall focus on the chemical and chromatographic analyses that were used in the study of three textiles that were found in a cave in wadi Murabba'at, the Judean desert. The textiles date to the Roman period, and were dyed with a prestigious purple dye. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) identified the Murex sea snail Hexaplex trunculus as a source of dye for the three textiles. Nevertheless, the dyeing process was not uniform. The color of one textile was modified to greenish-blue, apparently by exposure to the sun during the dyeing process. The two other textiles were subject to a double-dyeing process, and underwent a second dipping in a dye solution extracted from the Armenian cochineal insect. This process resulted in a reddish-purple color, which was indicative of high status. This is the first time that this dyeing technique was identified in ancient textiles from Israel. The multi-disciplinary research also identified different origins for the textiles.
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