Dye mentioned in the Bible is found in Roman tombs

In a discovery in the city of York, England, archaeologists and chemists from the University of York found traces of the extremely rare dye "Tyrian purple" (or Tyrian purple) in Roman tombs approximately 1,700 years old.

The pigment, associated with royalty and aristocracy and known for its mentions in biblical passages, was identified in fine fabrics that wrapped the bodies of two babies.

In the Bible, the luxurious product stands out at different times. In the book of Acts of the Apostles (16:14), Lydia is mentioned, a "purple cloth seller from the city of Thyatira", who converted after hearing the apostle Paul's message.

In the Gospel of Mark (15:17), the purple cloak is used by Roman soldiers to dress Jesus Christ, in mockery of his accusation of being the "King of the Jews", before his crucifixion.

Luxury and status in the Roman Empire
The tombs discovered date from the late 3rd or early 4th century AD and are part of the York Museums Trust collection.

The first baby was buried alongside two adults in a stone coffin, while the second was in a lead coffin. The liquid plaster poured over the shrouded bodies - a Roman funerary practice - was responsible for preserving the impressions and chemical fragments of the fabric.

The analysis revealed that the newborns were wrapped in the most prestigious dye in the Roman world, even adorned with gold threads. During the Roman era, Tyrian purple was a product of exorbitant value, costing three times more than gold.

Manufacture was a complex process that involved crushing thousands of marine molluscs of the murex species to extract minimal amounts of the pigment.

The name derives from its main production hub, the city of Tire, in Phoenicia, current territory of Lebanon.

Love and grief
The chemical identification was carried out by the Center of Excellence in Mass Spectrometry at the University of York, through doctors Jackie Mosely and Jennifer Wakefield, who were able to detect residues invisible to the naked eye. The research is part of the multidisciplinary Seeing the Dead project, led by Professor Maureen Carroll from the Department of Archeology.

For historians, the implications of this discovery go beyond luxury. The find challenges the modern assumption that the Romans did not grieve for infant death, as ancient laws and traditions prohibited the public mourning of infants at a time when 30% of children died before reaching the age of one.

"For the first time, we have confirmation of the use of this expensive dye in Roman York, indicating that the city's wealthy inhabitants had access to expensive and exotic goods from the other end of the empire," explained Professor Carroll.

She adds that this remarkable discovery says a lot about the importance of children in Roman York and the family's willingness to give their baby the best send-off possible in tragic circumstances.

*Under the supervision of Carolina Figueiredo

Source: CNN