TEKHELET: SETTING THE ANCIENT RECORD STRAIGHT

In performing dyeings with the natural materials available in antiquity-and not with the synthetic materials used today-one gains certain insights into the ancient dyeing process and what was possible to accomplish.1 Because the production of wool-dyed tekhelet is a chemical process, it is obviously...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Tradition (New York) 2022-01, Vol.54 (1), p.46-72
Main Author: Koren, Zvi C
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiquity
Archaeology
Bible
Clergy
Color
Interpreters
Medieval period
Phonetics
Talmud
Textiles
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Summary:In performing dyeings with the natural materials available in antiquity-and not with the synthetic materials used today-one gains certain insights into the ancient dyeing process and what was possible to accomplish.1 Because the production of wool-dyed tekhelet is a chemical process, it is obviously vital that those ruling on its halakhic validity be aware of the full scientific aspects associated with this craft as practiced in antiquity. The results discussed here are based on my three decades of experimenting with natural dyestuffs, including the first successful reconstruction in Israel of the all-natural Murex-snail dyeing as practiced by the ancient purple dyer.2 Further, instrumental chemical analyses that I performed on archaeological textiles from Israel and beyond have also resulted in a deeper understanding of the dyeing process. According to tradition, its hue is blue-or better "bluish"- however, interpreters of the Bible are radically diverse in their view as to how "bluish" was tekhelefs color. "9 Some have stated that Rashi's yarok can be a green-blue (turquoise-like) color, a possible outcome if we stretch Rashi's green into its neighboring blue hue in the visible light spectrum.
ISSN:0041-0608
DOI:10.54469/LPJ6OAYG6