在以色列，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了可能是圣經(jīng)中的國王穿過的紫色織物

在以色列，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)了可能是圣經(jīng)中的國王穿過的紫色織物

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，很少有歷史人物能成功地只穿紫色衣服。在《圣經(jīng)》時(shí)代，紫色是皇室的顏色，以色列的研究人員現(xiàn)在發(fā)現(xiàn)了染有?古紫色顏料的衣服碎片，他們認(rèn)為可能是?大大衛(wèi)?或所羅門王這樣的人穿過的。

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.

這項(xiàng)研究的作者在?PLOS One雜志上發(fā)表了他們的發(fā)現(xiàn)，描述了他們是如何在一個(gè)鐵器時(shí)代的銅熔煉點(diǎn)找到三個(gè)紫色織物樣本的，每個(gè)樣本都使用了一種由地中海軟體動物制成的染料。一些宗教文獻(xiàn)都提到過這種顏料的使用，但直到現(xiàn)在，唯一能證明這種顏料存在的直接證據(jù)來自污跡斑斑的陶瓷和成堆的被丟棄的軟體動物殼。

"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.

研究報(bào)告的作者Naama Sukenik博士在?一份聲明中解釋說:“這是在大衛(wèi)和所羅門時(shí)代發(fā)現(xiàn)的第一塊著名的紫色染料染色的紡織品。”考古學(xué)家是在挖掘以色列南部提姆納山谷一個(gè)名為“奴隸山”的遺址時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)了這些罕見的紡織品。

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，紫色服裝與貴族、牧師，當(dāng)然還有皇室聯(lián)系在一起。紫色色澤艷麗，不會褪色，而且染料生產(chǎn)困難，這種染料在軟體動物體內(nèi)含量極低，這一切都使紫色成為最有價(jià)值的染料，通常比黃金還貴。”

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.

放射性碳年代測定法證實(shí)這些碎片大約有3000年的歷史。這些樣品由一塊梭織織物、一枚流蘇和一團(tuán)羊毛纖維制成，與《圣經(jīng)》中大衛(wèi)和所羅門的君主完全吻合——他們都出現(xiàn)在?《舊約全書》?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).

多虧了羅馬作家老普林尼的著作，人們才知道這種著名的紫色染料是由三種不同種類的海蝸牛身上發(fā)現(xiàn)的色素產(chǎn)生的:帶條紋的染料murex，帶刺的染料murex 和紅嘴的巖殼。

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’.

使用一種叫做高壓液相色譜的技術(shù)，研究人員能夠確認(rèn)染色織物確實(shí)含有這些軟體動物衍生的色素，表明這種顏色是真正的“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，在與以色列接壤的紅海沒有發(fā)現(xiàn)制造這種染料的海蝸牛。相反，他們居住在地中海水域，因此，他們在中東的存在，標(biāo)志著整個(gè)地區(qū)已建立的貿(mào)易路線的存在。

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.

由于這種色素在海螺中含量極低，所以要想生產(chǎn)出一件高貴的紫色外衣，就需要大量的海螺。通過熟練地將三種不同的植物組合在一起，并在生產(chǎn)過程中控制光照，技術(shù)工人能夠調(diào)整染料的色調(diào)，使其呈現(xiàn)出紅色或藍(lán)色調(diào)。

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總結(jié)了這一發(fā)現(xiàn)的重要性，他說:“我們發(fā)現(xiàn)的紫色布的殘留物不僅是以色列最古老的，而且在整個(gè)黎凡特南部都是如此。”