A 3,800-Year-Old Red Textile Dyed with Biblical Scarlet Discovered in the Judean Desert Caves

In the caves of the Judean desert, the earliest evidence of red-dyed textile using scale insects was revealed. According to a new joint study of the Israel Antiquities Authority, Bar-Ilan University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the color of the rare 3,800-year-old textile was produced from the oak scale insects, which the researchers identify with the biblical “Tola‛at Hashani” (scarlet worm).

The color “scarlet worm” is mentioned 25 times in the Bible, often alongside blue (Tekhelet) and purple (Argaman), which are considered the most precious and prestigious colors in the ancient world. It is mentioned in the context of luxurious clothing, in the use of Tabernacle textiles, and in other cultic contexts.

As part of an extensive project to identify dyes in archaeological textiles, led by Dr. Naama Sukenik from the Israel Antiquities Authority, Prof. Zohar Amar and Prof. David Iluz from Bar-Ilan University, and supported by the Israel Science Foundation, a piece of textile with a bright red shade produced by kermes was discovered. The research results were published this week in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.

The rare textile, which is less than 2 cm in size, was discovered in 2016 in the “Cave of Skulls” during excavations conducted by the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Hebrew University as part of a broad Heritage Project to save heritage finds in the Judean Desert caves from antiquities theft. The excavation, led by Dr. Eitan Klein, Dr. Uri Davidovich, Roi Porat and Amir Ganor, uncovered a tiny red textile, which was sent for further research along with dozens of other textiles found in the cave.

Despite its small size, the textile’s color caught the researchers’ attention. Using analytical equipment, they identified the origin of the dye, finding that oak-scale insects produced the red dye used for the woolen weft threads while the warp threads, made of linen, remained uncolored. The textile was dated to the Middle Bronze Age (1767-1954 BCE) using carbon-14 analysis.

“In ancient times, the dye was produced from the female scale insect, which lives on the kermes oak tree (Quercus coccifera),” explains Dr. Naʼama Sukenik, Curator of the Organic Material Collection at the Israel Antiquities Authority. “Collecting these kermes was done in a very short window of time – one month out of the year, in the summer, after the female laid her eggs but before they hatched— when the amount of dye was greatest. The short period in which the kermes could be collected, the difficulty in finding them due to their small size (between 3–8 mm), and their camouflage colors, that make it difficult to locate them, as well as the small amount of dye that can be produced from them — and on the other hand, the beautiful red hue (scarlet) that can be produced from them for dyeing textiles, made their use highly prestigious.”

The red dye from kermes was mentioned in ancient trade documents, such as in cuneiform tablets from Mesopotamia, dating back to 1425 BCE. “In the Bible, the dye extracted from oak scale insects is referred to as “scarlet worm,” says Prof. Zohar Amar of Bar-Ilan University. The term “worm” in ancient times was a general term for various insects and their developmental stages. The biblical association of this color with a living creature demonstrates impressive zoological knowledge, considering that female scale insects lack legs and wings, to the extent that some Greek and Roman naturalists even mistook them for plant granules. Throughout history, various species of scale insects have been used to produce red dye. To this day, in South America, another species of cochineal scale insect, which lives on certain species of cacti, is used for dyeing textiles.

According to Dr. Sukenik, “Identifying the dye in the ancient textile was achieved using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC), a device commonly employed in biology and chemistry laboratories to separate and identify substances in minute quantities, and it also serves archaeology. This advanced analytical method enabled us to pinpoint the dye’s origin down to the exact species of scale insect. Thus, we can determine with high probability that in ancient times, the textile was dyed using a species of Kermes vermilio, which produces kermesic acid, imparting the distinctive red hue.”

According to Prof. David Iluz from Bar-Ilan University, who also heads the Environmental Sciences and Agriculture Department at Beit Berl College, “Although it was discovered that Israel has a native species of scale insect living on Palestinian oak (Quercus calliprinos), capable of producing a red-orange color, the analytical results indicate that in the case at hand, the species of scale insects is Kermes vermilio which lives on the kermes oak tree (Quercus coccifera). This tree species is common in the central and eastern Mediterranean region, including Spain, France, and other areas, but is not found in the Land of Israel.”

Despite the wealth of written historical evidence about the widespread use of dyeing with scale insects in the ancient world, until today, very few textiles dyed with kermes insects that predate the Roman period have been found worldwide.

The red textile from the “Cave of the Skulls” in the Judean Desert represents, as far as we know, the earliest evidence of woolen textile dyed with kermes. “Although it is difficult to know how this textile arrived in this desert cave, it is significant evidence of ancient knowledge in dyeing wool fibers using scale insects to achieve the red color as early as the Middle Bronze Age — about 3,800 years ago,” says Dr. Uri Davidovich, an excavation director at the Cave of the Skulls on behalf of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

“The important find bridges the gap between written sources and the archaeological discoveries, providing evidence that the ancient textile dyeing industry was — already at this stage, sufficiently established for dyeing using animals,” adds Dr. Sukenik. “The rare textile is a testament to broad international commercial networks functioning already at this time and indicates the presence of an elite society.”