Indigo Dyeing , Ai-zome, and Rampuya
- Mar 29th. 2013
Indigo dyeing was born in ancient times and has been existing over the centuries in various regions in the world, such as India, China, and Japan. It was known and traded as well in Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Britain, Peruvian, Persian, and African civilizations.
India is believed to be the oldest center of indigo dyeing in the Old World, that is approximately 6500 years ago.
Supposedly, existing oldest indigo-dyed fabric is the cloth used to wrap Mummy in Egypt about 4000 years ago.
In Japan, we call our indigo dyeing “Ai-zome”(藍染め)“.
It is said that the origin of Ai-zome came from China about 1800 years ago, which is relatively short history in the world of indigo dyeing.