Woad, not just for Celts!

Yes, the ancient Egyptians used it too!

I have long wanted to dye with woad, having heard about how fabric soaked in woad changes colour when taken out of the dye vat. And, having tried it, it is rather magical. As you lift it out of the liquid, the yarn or fabric turns blue as it hits the air. The colour produced is, well, indigo, the same colour as indigo dyed jeans. (To the left is a pic of wool dyed with woad drying in my back garden). Woad and indigo actually have the same chemical dye, though indigo has it in greater quantities.

Dyeing is like magic, so it is apt that papyri from ancient Egypt dealing with dyes are sometimes called alchemic texts. Papyrus X Leidensis of the Roman Period also has recipes for changing the colour of stones and metals.1

The only problem with woad dying is that it's a bit smelly. I dye in the kitchen but have the backdoor open. Indeed Papyrus Anastasia VII has a section in it declaring "The fingers of the dyer smell of rotten fish. His eyes are red from fatigue". 2 The use of woad as a dye requires the use of a fermentation vat. Traditionally, stale urine was used. Fermentation removes oxygen from the woad, making it soluable. Instructions on how to do it are given here.

Woad, comes from the plant Isatis tinctoria L. which grows widely, including in Egypt and Britain. I am trying to grow some in my garden, but slugs keep eating it!

PS, in September I am hoping to start a once a week, 10 week exploration of ancient Egyptian textiles which I hope others might like to join. We shall be looking at various aspects of textiles, including those in the Egypt Centre, and the intention is to have an experimental element. I anyone wants to keep in touch re. this, please email me at c.a.graves-brown@swansea.ac.uk

1. There were, and are, of course arguments as to what alchemy was/is. More recently, it seems to be associated with making precious metals, or is seen as the forerunner to chemistry. For a discussion on the connection between alchemy and dyeing see: Garcia, J. M. 2018. 'The art of dyeing in Greco-Roman Egypt', in Busana, M.S., Gleba, M., Meo. F and Tricomi, A.R. (eds.) Textiles and Dyes in the Mediterranean Economy and Society. Proceedings of the VIth International Symposium on Textiles and Dyes in the Ancient Mediterranean World (Padova - Este - Altino, Italy 17 – 20 October 2016). Libros Portico, 471-479.

2. 'The Satire of the Trades'. It should be pointed out that some scholars see this text as referring not to woad dye but rather Tyrian purple dye, a dye produces from shellfish. However, analysis of purple dyes in Egypt show little use of Tyrian purple. Rather, purple dyes were more commonly obtained by overdyeing blue woad with red madder. The Papyrus dates to the 19th Dynasty.