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Home , Dark purple, Indigo, Sky blue, Tekhelet

archaeological views

The Great Tekhelet Debate— or ? Baruch and Judy Taubes Sterman

For ancient Israelites, tekhelet was writings of rabbinic scholars and Greek and Roman God’s chosen . It was the color of the sumptu- naturalists had convinced Herzog that tekhelet was a ous drapes adorning Solomon’s Temple (2 Chroni- bright sky-blue obtained from the natural secretions cles 3:14) as well as the robes worn by Israel’s high of a certain sea snail, the trunculus, known to priests (Exodus 28:31). Even ordinary Israelites produce a .* were commanded to tie one string of tekhelet to But the esteemed chemist challenged Herzog’s the corner fringes (Hebrew, ) of their gar- contention: “I consider it impossible to produce a ments as a constant reminder of their special rela- pure blue from the purple snails that are known to Tekhelet was tionship with God (Numbers 15:38–39). me,” Friedländer said emphatically.1 But how do we know what color the Biblical writ- Unfortunately, neither Herzog nor Friedländer God’s chosen ers had in mind? While tekhelet-colored fabrics and lived to see a 1985 experiment by Otto Elsner, a color. It colored clothes were widely worn and traded throughout the chemist with the Shenkar College of Fibers in Israel, ancient Mediterranean world, by the Roman period, proving that sky-blue could, in fact, be produced the drapes donning tekhelet and similar was the exclusive from murex dye. During a specific stage in the dyeing of Solomon’s privilege of the emperor. And so it happened that process, exposure to rays (such as those sometime around the seventh century C.E., probably found in sunlight) can cause the molecules that give Temple and was hastened by the Islamic conquest of the Levant, the the dye its natural purple color to transform into worn by Israel’s source and identity of tekhelet, and knowledge of its pure , thus leaving the dye an unadulterated manufacture, slipped into obscurity. sky-blue. high priests. About a century ago, as part of his doctoral Yet the debate surrounding the exact color of But what color research on “Hebrew Porphyrology” (the study of tekhelet was not settled. Depending on how long the was tekhelet? purple), Isaac Herzog, who years later became the murex dye is exposed to and at what stage in first chief of Israel, corresponded with the the dyeing process, a wide range of colors and shades greatest dye chemist of his day, Paul Friedländer, can result. In addition, some chemists claim that about possible sources for Biblical tekhelet. Archaeo- ancient dyers, who created their primarily using logical evidence and an exhaustive survey of the bacterial fermentation in covered vats, probably did not know how to adjust colors through exposure to The tied strings (tzitzit) of this traditional sunlight, so that their dyes would have tended to be a shawl have been dyed a shade of blue that many identify much darker purple. In view of the obvious expertise with Biblical tekhelet. of ancient dyers, however, this does not seem a con- vincing supposition. Furthermore, there is some literary and archaeo- logical evidence that tekhelet may have been more purple than blue. Writing in the 11th century, the great Biblical exegete defined tekhelet as a let e h

k deep blue or dark , “the color of the sky as it e T

il il darkens towards evening” (commentary on Numbers t P

t 15:38). And at the Herodian fortress of , a a small swatch of first-century, violet-colored wool was Amut

f discovered during Yigael Yadin’s 1960s excavations. o y s A recent analysis of the violet-colored wool by Zvi rte

u Koren, an archaeochemist at Shenkar College, found o that its violet was produced with murex dye. erg/c b But Rabbi Herzog, like the overwhelming majority s

Wei of Jewish scholars since antiquity, had firmly believed e n that tekhelet was sky-blue, with no purple tinges. ge u E continues on page 73 o t *See Ari Greenspan, “The Search for Biblical Blue,” Bible Review,

Pho by February 2003.

28 through with a fair degree of collegial Foundation, this is no mere academic this, which explains, in part, why differ- amicability, and the record of the debate question. We believe the preponderance ent , and different groups within should help ensure that the debate itself of evidence—archaeological, linguistic and each , understand God and what moves on from the too stark “either-or” literary—clearly supports the traditional God might expect from us in such differ- of its title. position and points to sky-blue as the ent ways. authentic color of tekhelet. Over the past I am very appreciative that BAR has James D.G. Dunn is Emeritus Lightfoot Professor of Divinity in the department of 25 years, we have produced hundreds of offered me the opportunity to write this theology and religion at Durham University thousands of murex-dyed tzitzit strings column, thereby recognizing that many of in England. that hang from prayer shawls around the its readers are interested in the religious world, reminding those who wear them of issues raised by academic Biblical study, the sea, the sky and God’s holy throne. including archaeological finds that draw attention to serious questions about the Archaeological Views Baruch and Judy Taubes Sterman are continued from page 28 authors of The Rarest Blue: The Remark- veracity of the Bible as a historical text. I able Story of an Ancient Color Lost to His- would like to offer some encouragement (1135–1204) had declared tory and Rediscovered (Guilford, CT: Lyons and resources through this column and unequivocally that tekhelet was “the color Press, 2012). the website thetorah.org for the many of the sky opposite the sun when there BAR readers who, like me, believe that 1 Isaac Herzog and Ehud Spanier, The Royal is a clear sky” (Mishneh , Laws of Purple and the Biblical Blue—Argaman and scholarly and religious approaches to the Tzitzit 2:1). Nearly a thousand years ear- Tekhelet: The Study of Chief Rabbi Dr. Isaac Bible may be complementary. lier, the second-century scholar Rabbi Herzog on the Dye Industries in Ancient Israel and Recent Scientific Contributions (: Marc Zvi Brettler is Dora Golding Profes- Meir declared, “Tekhelet resembles the Keter, 1987), p. 116. sor of Biblical Studies at Brandeis Uni- sea, and the sea resembles the heavens, versity in Waltham, Massachusetts, and and the heavens resemble God’s holy cofounder of Project TABS (Torah and throne” ( Sifre, Shelach). Hezekiah’s Tunnel Biblical Scholarship). One major piece of evidence in favor of continued from page 61 designating tekhelet as sky-blue involves an infamous story of forgery related in the 13 The pottery is being studied in detail by Alon De Groot and Atalya Fadida. See Alon De Groot Babylonian (Baba Metzia 61b). and Atalya Fadida, “The Pottery Assemblage Unscrupulous merchants were substitut- from the Rock-Cut Pool Near the Gihon ing a fraudulent, cheaper dye called kala Spring,” Tel Aviv 38 (2011), pp. 158–166. 14 ilan in place of authentic tekhelet. The A recent carbon-14 study dating the tunnel to about 700 B.C.E. is not precise enough to impostor, a plant-derived indigo, was a distinguish between the reigns of Hezekiah dead ringer for the real stuff, and the and Yehoash. See Amos Frumkin and Aryeh Talmud claims that only God could tell Shimron, “Tunnel Engineering in the Iron Age: Geoarchaeology of the Siloam Tunnel,” Journal the difference. If tekhelet looked exactly of Archaeological Science 33 (2006), p. 227. like kala ilan, it must have been the same 15 I am grateful to Ronny Reich and Aren Maeir color as indigo: sky-blue. for their helpful comments. Of course, this Wayne Horowitz, an Assyriologist at the should not be interpreted as implying agree- ment with what I have written. Hebrew University of Jerusalem, offers further significant linguistic evidence sup- porting the sky-blue option. In ancient Biblical Views Mesopotamia, there was no word for the continued from page 26 color blue in either Sumerian or Akka- dian. Hence, Sumerian uqnû, the word for transformed over time. And the same is the precious blue gem lapis lazuli, was true of ideas that are core to my : adopted to mean lapis lazuli-colored, i.e., These are enhanced by my understanding, blue and all its various shades. This term provided by academic Biblical scholar- was apparently applied to the sky, and ship, of how what I believe now is related later to blue wool (uqnâtu). When the for- to various earlier theologies (note the eign word takiltu (Hebrew, tekhelet) was plural!) found in the Bible. For after all, adopted into Akkadian, it was rendered one of the most important contributions with the same cuneiform signs as uqnâtu. of Biblical scholarship is the idea that the This suggests that to Mesopotamian eyes, Bible is a multifaceted, multivocal book. the colors of lapis lazuli, the sky and Different generations emphasize one tekhelet were equivalent. Biblical tradition over another, and offer So what color was ancient tekhelet? ever-fresh interpretations to this central For us, the founders of the Ptil Tekhelet text. We would all do well to remember

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