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Sassanid Dyes from Ancient Persia – Case Study Chehrābād in Northern Iran

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Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective

Part of the book series: Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology ((IDCA))

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Abstract

The Douzlākh salt mine Chehrābād in northern Iran offers good preservation conditions for organic finds of all kinds (wood, botanical remains, human faeces, textiles, ropes, leather and fur objects, human mummies). More than 15% of all artefacts found in the waste layers of the salt mine are textiles, most of them covering roughly a timespan between the fifth century BCE to the sixth century CE, which refers to the Achaemenid and Sassanid periods of the Persian Empires.

Within the framework of a recent research project, our focus lies on interdisciplinary textile research, including diverse analytical tools to gain basic data, radiocarbon dating, isotopic tracing, fibre analysis and wool measurements, dyestuff analysis and advanced conservation methods. The textiles from Chehrābād are an important source for our understanding of textile technology of the Ancient Near East and the Persian Empires.

This chapter deals with the dyeing research of selected Sassanid textiles (approx. 400–600 CE) and discusses how the outcome of the research, in terms of the biological dye sources applied in the material, can contribute to the geographical and historical context of the finds. This will provide knowledge about the dyeing tradition in Iranian territory and possible trade in dyes and textiles between Iran and other contemporary Mediterranean cultures.

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Acknowledgments

This research was carried out within the framework of two main projects in cooperation with the Iranian authorities (Miras Farhangi Iran, ICAR): Project Gerda Henkel Stiftung 2018–2020: “Die Salzmänner Irans – Das Kulturerbe des Salzmumien-Museums in Zanjan”, Project leader: Thomas Stöllner (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Deutsches Bergbaumuseum Bochum, Deutschland), Abolfazl Aali (Archaeological Museum Zanjan, Iran), Markus Egg (Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum Mainz), Wolfgang David (Museum Frankfurt), Grant Number: AZ 07/BE/17. Deutsche Forschungsgesellschaft DFG Project 2015-2017: “Saltmen Iran – Chehrabad Saltmummy & Saltmine Exploration Project”, Project manager: Abolfazl Aali (Archaeological Museum Zanjan, Iran), Thomas Stöllner (Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Deutsches Bergbaumuseum Bochum, Germany), Grant Number STO 458/12-2. Finally, we would like to thank Alexia Coudray from the textile lab for her cooperation in this project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Textile Research, Laboratory Department, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, Belgium

    Ina Vanden Berghe

  2. Department of Prehistory, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

    Karina Grömer

Authors
  1. Ina Vanden Berghe
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  2. Karina Grömer
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Correspondence to Karina Grömer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Archaeology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland

    Agata Ulanowska

  2. Department of Prehistory, Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

    Karina Grömer

  3. Textile Research, Laboratory Department, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Brussels, Belgium

    Ina Vanden Berghe

  4. Faculty of Humanities, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, Lampeter, UK

    Magdalena Öhrman

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Vanden Berghe, I., Grömer, K. (2022). Sassanid Dyes from Ancient Persia – Case Study Chehrābād in Northern Iran. In: Ulanowska, A., Grömer, K., Vanden Berghe, I., Öhrman, M. (eds) Ancient Textile Production from an Interdisciplinary Perspective. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92170-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-92170-5_4

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