Weaving

8 9 Dyeing preserving the secrets of colour The first Western dyers were probably the Swiss Lake Dwellers, around 3000 BC. All societies have guarded dyeing secrets, and in Anatolian society, a man would spend fifteen years learning to become a master dyer. Dyestuffs called substantive dyes can be used straight on the wool, while adjective dyes require the use of a mordant from mordere, to bite, which prepares the wool to accept the colour. In the past, leaves, roots, and urine were used as mordants. In Pompeii jars were left outside to collect urine, and dyers known as men with blue fingernails were consequently viewed with revulsion. Colours can indicate status and bestow protection. In Greece saffron was a womans colour, used in puberty ceremonies. The first red dye is credited to blacksmiths, an imitation of the fire of the forge, and only they, and old men, were allowed to wear it. In India, Brahma, the god of fire and blacksmiths, has red cloth on his altars. The arsenic compound realgar produced a red dye, known as dragons blood, which could make the wearer ill over time. So we see why Bronze Age myths said dragons blood could kill. It is also possible that ancient Egyptians tried to dye live sheep, feeding them madder to produce red wool. In Lebanon crushed shells of the purple murex mollusk litter ancient sites. Thousands were required to produce just one ounce of dye, its rarity making it a royal colour. One legend credits Hercules dog with the discovery, his nose becoming coloured when he broke a shell. Pliny stated they should only be gathered at the rising of the star Sirius. In the Protoevangelium of James, the Virgin Mary is described as spinning purple thread for the Temple veil when the angel Gabriel came to her.