Garbage Into Treasure

One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure. Apollonia, Hebrew “Arsuf”, was an ancient city and fortress located in Israel about 15 km north of modern Tel Aviv. It’s on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. Today, it is a national park, a place for family picnics. In the 6th century BCE, it had a mixed Israelite/Canaanite population specializing in the purple/blue dye called “Tekhelet” in the Bible. To this day, Jews are commanded to wear special strings in the corners of a four-cornered garment. In the Torah, it explicitly states that one of those strings has to be “Tekhelet” (Numbers 15:37-41). For centuries, the secret to making Tekhelet was lost. “Biblical blue” was no more. But recently, as documented in my friend Baruch Sterman’s book, the secret to Biblical blue has been rediscovered. It’s not a plant dye but, rather, comes from the Murex Trunculus, a kind of sea snail. The exact shade i.e., sky blue vs. purple, is still being debated. But, for the first time, Biblical blue is being reproduced and, at the site of Apollonia, Murex dating to Biblical time has been found. From here this precious dye was exported to the Aegean.

Now, digging in a “garbage” heap in Apollonia, archaeologists have found a unique ring with the inscription “God is one” on it. It’s over 1600 years old and it is citing the Torah passage in the Hebrew prayer book that is read together with the Biblical commandment to wear Tekhelet.

We are living in wondrous times. We find the ancient remains of Tekhelet, we’ve rediscovered the lost art of making it, and now we have an ancient Torah inscription linked to the very passage that commands Jews to wear it. What’s more, some of the Israeli kids visiting the site on picnics are once again wearing Tekhelet on their garments.

See: http://www.haaretz.com/misc/article-print-page/.premium-1.543072?trailingPath=2.169%2C2.850%2C

My film on the search for Tekhelet is in Season 2 of “The Naked Archaeologist.

Click here to see my recent article “Bulldozer Archaeology” on The Times of Israel.