Colori e trasparenze nella haute couture dell'Egitto tolemaico

A previous analysis on colour terms in Papyri and the Greek Bible is the source of the present investigation. The description of women’s clothing in Jerusalem as occurring in Is 3,16-24 of the Septuagint Version is compared to literary, documentary (papyri, ostraka), artistic (mummy portraits) and handmade (dresses, fabrics) testimonies. The aim is to realise the reasons for some translating choices according to the culture and habits of that time, to the influence of the Greek Scriptures, to the Hellenistic literature and finally to the dowry lists in marriage contracts. The chromatic sensibility, typical of the Egyptian documentation, will be emphasised as well. Although in its Greek “edition” the passage does not correspond verbum de verbo to the Masoretic Text, it derives from this one: yet, the interpretation of some rare, if not hapax, Hebrew terms still remains doubtful. Apart from notes on colours, which do not occur in the Masoretic Text, transparent and elegant dresses are already listed in the original and attested in the Dead Sea Scrolls without any variation. What the translation innovates does not depend on a different Vorlage, but rather on the way the translator updates the fashion trends as to jewels and the haute couture, by taking inspiration from the ladies in Ptolemaic Alexandria. The message the original text conveys becomes more lively and effective when condemning the vacuity and pride of these women who adorn themselves with precious fabrics like the ones used for the furnishings and priests’ vestments in Jerusalem Temple.