1300-year-old silks from China etc. excavated in the Arava

ANCIENT MATERIAL CULTURE: Israel discovers 1,300-year-old colored silk fabrics from China (Xinua).

JERUSALEM, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Israeli archaeologists have discovered hundreds of 1,300-year-old imported colorful fabrics, the University of Haifa (UH) said in a statement on Tuesday.

The findings include silk fabrics originating in China, as well as cotton fabrics imported from India, Iran and Sudan, all found in excavations carried out in the southeastern Arava valley by UH, together with the Israel Antiquities Authority and other universities.

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I like to keep track of recovery of ancient textiles and organic remains in Israel. This one is on the high end of "ancient," but still. The point I keep coming back to is that if textiles etc. survive, the conditions were right for scrolls and other writings (e.g., codices in this period) to survive as well.

I hope that someday some more will turn up.

I couldn't find anything more on this story, even on Professoe Bar-Oz's University of Haifa website.

For PaleoJudaica posts on ancient organic remains and their implications, see here, here, here, and here, and follow the links. See also here (link now fixed!) for more on Professor Bar-Oz's research project.

UPDATE (19 January): The story is now receiving more media attention.

This article by Judy Siegel-Itzkovich in the Jerusalem Post has additional information and two photos of textile fragments: Luxury fabrics from 1,300 years ago apparently from China, India and Sudan found in Arava. Has the Israeli Silk Road been discovered?

An article by Aspen Pflughoeft in the Miami Herald has more photos and a link to an IAA Facebook announcement: ‘Trash mounds’ of 1,300-year-old fabrics — still vividly colored — unearthed in Israel.

UPDATE (20 January): More from Tobias Siegal in the Times of Israel: First evidence of unknown ancient ‘Israeli Silk Road’ uncovered in Arava trash dump. Results from sifting 1,600-year-old garbage during a first excavation season at Nahal Omer suggest luxury goods from East were in high demand in the 8th century CE, researchers say. With more photographs and additional details.

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