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Coptic textiles in Tehran: dye and fibre characterisation in four Coptic textiles preserved at the Moghadam Museum

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Abstract

Fibres and dyes in four Coptic textiles preserved at the Moghadam Museum in Tehran, Iran, were characterised using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with photodiode array detector (HPLC–DAD) and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HPLC-HRMS). The results showed that natural plant dyes including madder, indigo/woad and tannins were used to dye wool and linen fibres with different size and quality. Furthermore, the beige colour was identified to have been achieved by plants from a Rhamnus specie (Persian berries) rarely reported from Coptic textiles. Mixtures of the dyes were also identified in the textiles consistent with what we know from Coptic textiles. Both stylistic and technical studies suggest that these textiles have been woven some time between the fourth and the seventh century AD.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank Mostafa Dehpahlavan from the University of Tehran and the Saving Oseberg Project funded by the Norwegian State and the University of Oslo.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology and History, Central Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran

    Roya Deyjoo

  2. Department of Objects Conservation and Archaeometry, Art University of Isfahan, Hakim-Nezami St., P.O. BOX: 1744, Isfahan, Iran

    Parviz Holakooei

  3. Laboratorio SCIBEC, Dipartimento di Chimica e Chimica Industriale, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italia

    Francesca Sabatini, Ilaria Degano & Maria Perla Colombini

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  1. Roya Deyjoo
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  2. Parviz Holakooei
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  3. Francesca Sabatini
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  5. Maria Perla Colombini
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Correspondence to Parviz Holakooei.

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Deyjoo, R., Holakooei, P., Sabatini, F. et al. Coptic textiles in Tehran: dye and fibre characterisation in four Coptic textiles preserved at the Moghadam Museum. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 222 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01465-3

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