Dyeing

The dyeing process involved soaking the material to be dyed in vats of dye then drying it. This process was repeated until the dyed stuff was the desired color. The process was concluded by soaking in a fixing agent which rendered the cloth colorfast. Blue dye was made from the rind of pomegranates, crimson from grubs or worms that fed on oaks, and purple from the shell of the murex shellfish. Since this shellfish was found only in the vicinity of Acre on the Phoenician coast and since only a small amount of a dye material could be extracted from each shell, this dye was especially valued. Archeological evidence suggests that in Palestine of biblical times thread was dyed rather than whole cloth.