在以色列，人们发现了可能是圣经中的国王穿过的紫色织物

在以色列，人们发现了可能是圣经中的国王穿过的紫色织物

With the possible exception of Prince, few historical figures have managed to get away with wearing only purple. In Biblical times, the color was reserved for royalty, and researchers in Israel have now uncovered fragments of clothing dyed with an ancient purple pigment, which they believe may have been worn by the likes of King David or King Solomon.

可能除了王子之外，很少有历史人物能成功地只穿紫色衣服。在《圣经》时代，紫色是皇室的颜色，以色列的研究人员现在发现了染有 古紫色颜料的衣服碎片，他们认为可能是 大大卫 或所罗门王这样的人穿过的。

Presenting their discovery in the journal PLOS One, the study authors describe how they came across three samples of purple fabric at an Iron Age copper smelting site, each of which was tinted with a dye made from Mediterranean mollusks. The use of such a pigment is alluded to by several religious texts, yet until now the only direct evidence for its existence had come from stained ceramics and piles of discarded mollusk shells.

这项研究的作者在 PLOS One杂志上发表了他们的发现，描述了他们是如何在一个铁器时代的铜熔炼点找到三个紫色织物样本的，每个样本都使用了一种由地中海软体动物制成的染料。一些宗教文献都提到过这种颜料的使用，但直到现在，唯一能证明这种颜料存在的直接证据来自污迹斑斑的陶瓷和成堆的被丢弃的软体动物壳。

"This is the first piece of textile ever found from the time of David and Solomon that is dyed with the prestigious purple dye,” explained study author Dr Naama Sukenik in a statement. Archaeologists uncovered the rare textiles while excavating a site called Slaves’ Hill, which is located in the Timna Valley of southern Israel.

研究报告的作者Naama Sukenik博士在 一份声明中解释说:“这是在大卫和所罗门时代发现的第一块著名的紫色染料染色的纺织品。”考古学家是在挖掘以色列南部提姆纳山谷一个名为“奴隶山”的遗址时发现了这些罕见的纺织品。

Benjamin Taub

“In antiquity, purple attire was associated with the nobility, with priests, and of course with royalty. The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade, and the difficulty in producing the dye, which is found in minute quantities in the body of mollusks, all made it the most highly valued of the dyes, which often cost more than gold.”

在古代，紫色服装与贵族、牧师，当然还有皇室联系在一起。紫色色泽艳丽，不会褪色，而且染料生产困难，这种染料在软体动物体内含量极低，这一切都使紫色成为最有价值的染料，通常比黄金还贵。”

Radiocarbon dating confirmed that the fragments are approximately 3,000 years old. Consisting of a piece of woven fabric, a tassel, and a clump of wool fibers, the samples match up perfectly with the biblical monarchies of David and Solomon – both of whom appear in the Old Testament decked in purple.

放射性碳年代测定法证实这些碎片大约有3000年的历史。这些样品由一块梭织织物、一枚流苏和一团羊毛纤维制成，与《圣经》中大卫和所罗门的君主完全吻合——他们都出现在 《旧约全书》 中，身穿紫色。

Wool textile fragment decorated by threads dyed with Royal Purple, ~1000 BCE, Timna Valley, Israel. Image: Dafna Gazit, courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority

Thanks to the texts of Roman author Pliny the Elder, it is known that the prestigious purple dye was produced from pigments found in three different species of sea snail: the Banded Dye-Murex (Hexaplex trunculus), the Spiny Dye-Murex (Bolinus brandaris), and the Red-Mouthed Rock-Shell (Stramonita haemastoma).

多亏了罗马作家老普林尼的著作，人们才知道这种著名的紫色染料是由三种不同种类的海蜗牛身上发现的色素产生的:带条纹的染料murex，带刺的染料murex 和红嘴的岩壳。

Using a technique called high-pressure liquid chromatography, the study authors were able to confirm that the dyed fabrics did indeed contain these mollusk-derived pigments, indicating that the color was genuine ‘royal purple’.

使用一种叫做高压液相色谱的技术，研究人员能够确认染色织物确实含有这些软体动物衍生的色素，表明这种颜色是真正的“皇家紫色”。

Interestingly, none of the sea snail species from which the dye is made are found in the Red Sea, which borders Israel. Instead, they populate the waters of the Mediterranean, and their presence in the Middle East, therefore, signifies the existence of established trading routes throughout the region.

有趣的是，在与以色列接壤的红海没有发现制造这种染料的海蜗牛。相反，他们居住在地中海水域，因此，他们在中东的存在，标志着整个地区已建立的贸易路线的存在。

Because the pigment occurs only in tiny quantities in sea snails, a large catch is required in order to produce a royal purple garment. By expertly combining the three different species and controlling light exposure during the production process, skilled workers were able to tweak the hues in the dye, bringing out red or blue tones.

由于这种色素在海螺中含量极低，所以要想生产出一件高贵的紫色外衣，就需要大量的海螺。通过熟练地将三种不同的植物组合在一起，并在生产过程中控制光照，技术工人能够调整染料的色调，使其呈现出红色或蓝色调。

Summing up the importance of this discovery, Sukenik remarked that “the remnants of the purple-dyed cloth that we found are not only the most ancient in Israel, but in the Southern Levant in general.”

Sukenik总结了这一发现的重要性，他说:“我们发现的紫色布的残留物不仅是以色列最古老的，而且在整个黎凡特南部都是如此。”