For centuries; blue and purple dyed fabrics ranked among the ancient world s most desirable objects; commanding many times their weight in gold. Few people knew their secrets; carefully guarding the valuable knowledge; and strict laws regulated their production and use. The Rarest Blue tells the incredible story of tekhelet; the elusive sky-blue color mentioned throughout the Bible. Minoans discovered it; Phoenicians stole it; Roman emperors revered it; and Jews obeying a commandment to affix a thread of it to their garments risked their lives for it. But as the Roman Empire dissolved; the color vanished. Then; in the nineteenth century; a marine biologist marveled as yellow snail guts smeared on a fisherman s shirt turned blue. But what had caused this incredible transformation? Meanwhile; a Hasidic master obsessed with the ancient technique posited that the source of the dye was no snail but a squid. Bitter controversy divided European Jews until a brilliant rabbi proved one side wrong. But had an unscrupulous chemist deceived them? In this richly illustrated book; Baruch Sterman brilliantly recounts the amazing story of this sacred dye that changed the color of history.
#2486598 in Books 2016-12-07Original language:English 8.97 x .96 x 6.00l; .0 #File Name: 0761868348346 pages
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