Tikvah
Editors’ Pick

November 3, 2026

New Findings from a First Temple-Era Industrial Park

An ancient dye factory, and much more.

The Torah commands the use of turquoise and purple dyes for the garments of the priests, various textiles in the Tabernacle, and tzitzit, the fringes of ritual garments. These dyes, highly prized throughout the ancient Mediterranean, came from the glands of rare sea snails which each produced only tiny amounts of color. As Zev Stub writes, not only do we know that the northern Kingdom of Israel had industrialized this process, but we now know that the factory area was a multi-use economic hub:

SaveGift