The Leyden and Stockholm Papyri - University of Cincinnati

115. Dyeing of Various Colors
To prepare Phoenician dye. Take and combine heliotrope with
alkanet. Lay them in an earthen vessel and sprinkle them for 3
days with white vinegar. On the fourth day boil them, with the
addition of water, until these float at the top. If you desire, however,
to dye cedar color then take out the alkanet, and boil lightly,
but if you wish cherry-red then add krimnos soured with a little
soap. Put the wool in and boil it together with the substances until
it appears to you to be good.
116. Cold Dyeing in Dark Yellow
Put 1 part of golden litharge (and) 2 parts of quicklime in a vessel
and pour water in until it runs over. Stir until it is mixed and put
the rinsed-out wool in, which after a time receives another color. If
you mix alkanet in with it, the wool becomes better.
117. Dyeing in Scarlet
THE STOCKHOLM PAPYRUS
Take the wool and mordant with woad, which dyes blue. Wash and
dry it. Then take and crush kermes in water until it becomes
dissolved. Then mix in rustic archil and boil thus. Put the wool in
and it will become scarlet.
The exact sense of the word “rustic” in the above recipe is, according
to Lagercrantz, that it refers to archil from the country as an
inferior variety.
118. To Produce a Gold Color by Cold Dyeing
Take safflower blossom and oxeye, crush them together and lay
them in water. Put the wool in and sprinkle with water. Lift the
wool out, expose it to the air, and use it.
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