Numerous textiles dating back to Late Antiquity and Middle Ages found on archaeological sites in the Sudan preserve intact threads with vivid shades of blue, red and yellow. While some of these fabrics were imported, others are products of local textile craft. These textiles are the only witnesses to date of the dyeing activity practiced by the inhabitants of the Nubian kingdoms. The most popular decorative patterns were coloured bands and/or stripes, declined on a plain ground. More sophisticated fabrics preserve traces of geometrical or vegetal ornaments woven in tapestry or in broché. Independently of the technique chosen to embellish the fabric, the weaver needed dyed threads. Those can be coloured before spinning – as raw fibre, or after spinning – as yarns. A closer observation of the threads shows they are usually well dyed on their surface while the core appears less penetrated by the colour, which points to the application of the dye on spun threads. Except for the textiles, there is no other archaeological attestation of dyeing activity to date. The examination of 59 samples by HPLC-MS lead to the identification of the various plant dyes used in Ancient and Medieval Sudan and showed the combinations of these dyes to obtain various tones of a shade and create additional colours such as orange, pink or green.

在苏丹考古遗址中发现的许多可以追溯到古代晚期和中世纪的纺织品保留了完整的线，带有鲜艳的蓝色、红色和黄色色调。虽然其中一些面料是进口的，但其他面料是当地纺织工艺的产品。这些纺织品是迄今为止努比亚王国居民进行染色活动的唯一见证。最受欢迎的装饰图案是彩色带和/或条纹，在平原上下降。更精致的面料保留了用挂毯或胸针编织的几何或植物装饰品的痕迹。与选择的装饰织物的技术无关，织布工需要染色线。这些可以在纺前染色——作为原纤维，或纺纱后——作为纱线。对线的仔细观察表明，它们的表面通常染色良好，而核心似乎较少被颜色渗透，这表明染料是在纺线上应用的。除纺织品外，迄今为止没有其他考古证明染色活动。通过 HPLC-MS 对 59 个样品进行的检查导致鉴定了古代和中世纪苏丹使用的各种植物染料，并显示了这些染料的组合以获得不同色调的色调并产生其他颜色，例如橙色、粉红色或绿色。