Fabric/Ropes/Weaver

Sample Script for Fabric

Fine fabric! Beautiful fabric!  Hand woven with the greatest of care and the finest materials!  We spare no expense.  We go all the way to Phoenicia for the finest of purple cloth.  

Look, here is a crimson cloth, worthy of the Centurion’s cloak.  But I will sell it to you for a few Shekels so that I may pay my taxes.  Come…See…Feel this fabric.  Put it up next to your face.  It would make a fine tunic.  It would keep you warm.  It would wear well.  It is very strong.  Try it out.  

Would you like to see have some other options?  We have some beautiful, woven fabric that my husband got when he was on a caravan.  And he brought it back to us so that we could sell it in our shop.  

Fine cotton!   Fine linen!  You’ll find no better fabrics in all of Bethlehem tonight!

Come, Come….buy!  Please…come see!  Look at the shop!

Fine fabrics, Sturdy fabrics buy your fabric here.

Help me pay my taxes.  The tax collector is threatening to take my child as payment for my taxes.

 Wouldn't you like this fine fabric for your wife? She could make a lovely garment for your daughter’s dowry.

Feel how warm and sturdy this fabric is.  It will keep out the cold desert wind in the nights to come.

Sample Script for Ropes/Weaver

Come and buy our fine rugs!  The best woven rugs in all of Bethlehem!  Sturdy rugs to line the floor of your tent and keep the sand off your feet.  

Fine rugs!  Hand woven here in Bethlehem.  Come to the Ropes and Weavers shop!  

You may need rope to tie down your tent?  Or lead your animals?  We have fine rope.  Or perhaps to put the bucket down into the well so that you might draw your water? 

Fine rope.  Wonderful ropes!  You’ll find no finer in all of Bethlehem.

 Job Description and Background

Types of fabric used in the 1st Century consisted of:    

·         woolen fabric, either dyed or in its natural color : wool was easier to work with and it took dyes better.  It was also waterproof to some extent giving better production against the weather

·         linen:  made from a plant called flax and finer and more expensive than wool

·         Animal skins:

       Cotton-- found growing wild or cultivated cotton was less sturdy than linen but much easier to process and weave.

·         Silk  – imported from China and India; was rate and expensive; a luxury afforded only to the rich.  Two types of silk were used: 

o    Wild silk: collected from cocoons from the wild after the insect had eaten its way out.  Is smaller in lengths and had to be spun

o    Sea silk: made from the long silky filaments produced by a large Mediterranean seashell

Trade Route:  the Silk Road

A series of ancient trade and cultural transmission routes that were central to cultural interaction through regions of the Asian continent connecting East and West by linking traders, merchants, pilgrims, monks, soldiers, nomads and urban dwellers from China to the Mediterranean Sea.

Types of Dyes used include:

·         Purple-Red Colorant:  made from a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail; the color of the emperor; was imported from Tyre, Lebanon and was used primarily by wealthy women

·         Indigo: a more widely used tint; allowed blue or yellow shades; can be made from certain types of wood or the indigo plant flowers

·         Yellow:  obtained from saffron; was expensive and reserved for the clothing of married women.  Can also be made from pomegranate

·         Lilac:  made from the myrtle tree

·         Vegetables were used to get dyes in a range of colors

Oriental dyeing. The Orientals have some very fine dyes. Their favorite color is a bright crimson, and the dye they use to make this color comes from a worm or grub that feeds on oak and other plants. Indigo is made from the rind of  pomegranate. Purple is made from the murex shellfish which can still be found on the beach at the city of Acre. 

Luke tells of Lydia, "a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira" (Acts 16:14). She was a merchant who sold the purple dye to tanners, weavers, and others. This business of dyeing with which she was connected, had long been centered in the city of Thyatira. Inscriptions have been discovered that refer to "a guild of dyers" that was located in that vicinity.