History of dyeing in the world:
The oldest found works of color date back to about 150 to 200 thousand years ago. In the 3rd millennium BC, in the tomb of "Khnom Hoteb" (in Bani Hassan) from the 12th dynasty of the Egyptian dynasty, the remaining pottery and colored paintings show a row of women who probably belong to a group of tribes. These people are wearing clothes with clear and colorful stripes and probably wool.From the remaining papyri from the 19th and 18th dynasties, which is the golden age of the pharaohs in Egypt, the remains of several dyeing workshops and special dye pots have been found, and the recipe for dyeing with plants such as "saffron, turmeric, wasme color" as well as dye "Qaram Daneh" and "Ronas" and "Baqam Sorekh" and the plant root called "Elkant" are given for the red color. Compounds such as "iron sulfate", "white alum" and "iron paint" are mentioned as teeth, and vinegar and water are mentioned as auxiliary acids.

The first spinning wheel of the 3rd millennium BC, which was discovered in the west of Iran and is related to the period of the Elamite civilization, is considered the beginning of spinning, and without a doubt, the production of fabric and the use of dyes in these areas must have an ancient history.
Purple-red dye was discovered on the island of "Crete" in 1600 BC, and the maritime civilization of Phoenicia profited greatly from the trade of this dye, which was obtained from a gland next to the respiratory tract of sea snails. This color was used in Iran and ancient Greece, and the purple cloaks of Achaemenid generals were world famous.

History of color use in Iran:
Based on ancient works and objects obtained from archaeological excavations in Iran from about 5 to 6 thousand years ago, painted and colored pottery, including the Susa engraved pottery mug from the first millennium BC, which is in the "Nelson Kansas City" gallery. The existence of these objects proves the ancient familiarity of the people of this land with color and painting. Among other signs of familiarity of Iranians with color and coloring, the following can be mentioned:- The use of copper rust in the preparation of turquoise color or flint and lead in the preparation of yellow color, and the existence of modifications such as "Iranian red" and "Iranian blue" which are mentioned in most of the articles and writings related to the art of pottery. .
The oldest dyestuff that still plays a significant role in the dyeing industry (both traditional and new) is indigo. The discovery and use of indigo dates back to about four thousand years ago.
History of dyeing in Iran:

Fortunately, in the light of new archaeological achievements, as well as by examining written works, it has become clear that before Islam, Iranian society had an advanced tradition of carpet and textile weaving. Dyeing in Iran has a long history. Before Islam, especially the evidence such as the reference of the Greek historian Xenophon to the carpet weaving workshop of the Achaemenid kings in the city of Sard, dated to 400 years BC, and writings about the purple carpet on the tomb of Cyrus and the oldest knotted work in Iran. , which is considered to be the first sample of Iran's carpet and was discovered by professor "Rodengar" in Mongolia in an area called "Pazyrik", the existence of carpet weaving art and consequently the dyeing industry from the beginning of the history of ancient Iran as a precious art and Evolved in the definitive region. On the edge of the Pazyrik carpet, the pattern of a large number of horses can be seen, and green, blue, red and yellow colors are used in its texture. By examining the motifs and also the method of its weaving, it becomes clear that at least a thousand-year tradition is necessary to form such complex techniques.

During the Sassanid era, dyers were highly respected. The discovery of samples of Sassanid period fabrics, which are considered masterpieces of taste and elegance and the art of design and dyeing, is due to the existence of advanced dyeing and textile industries and undoubtedly carpet weaving, which raises its credibility to the top. One of the examples of Sassanid carpets, which unfortunately was destroyed by the Arab invasion, but it is mentioned in many books of the early Islamic centuries, including Tabari's history.Baharestan or Bahar Khosro carpet, in addition to the use of precious and unique stones, jewels, and decorations, the use of beautiful colors that have put all the seasons of the year in front of the viewer in a surprising way; Tabari says about it: "They wove a tapestry from Diba, 60 yards, and you opened it to the winter when there were no flowers blooming anywhere and you were not green in the world, and around that tapestry, all of them were "emerald" and "zaburjad". Woven green..."

The Sasanian way of using colors is different from the Byzantine way, and only the colors used are the same, but the Sasanian colors are less bright and more moderate, and are more artistically divided and chosen considering the role.
During the era of Al-Buye and then the Seljuqs, the existence of dyeing workshops that were organized and produced in many cities of Iran such as Yazd, Kashan and Isfahan have been mentioned. In addition to weavers, dyers were also permanently present in these workshops and used their experience, skills and taste in these dyehouses. The fame of Iranians in color making and understanding the value of colors, especially in the fields related to bookmaking and miniatures, had also reached such a limit that with the development of a prominent art school such as the Herat school, Iranians were known as masters of color.

With the beginning of the Seljuk rule in Iran, all techniques, especially textile and carpet weaving, became very important because of the Turkish nomads throughout the Islamic countries. A sample of the Seljuk period textiles available in the "Metropolitan" museum has turik shapes (meaning the leafing of a tree) in orange and brown colors, and another piece in green and white colors.
Carpet colors using plants and with the help of master dyers reached a level and range that gradually overshadowed other arts and crafts. "Ronas", "Nile", "Spark", "Walnut Skin", "Pomegranate Skin" and "Saffron" and other vegetable colors that were known to mankind hundreds of years ago were created by Iranian dyers artists, which are not seen anywhere else in Iran. The world could not be imitated.

The Safavid era is the peak of the development of textile and carpet weaving industries, and fortunately, many of its works are adorning the museums of the world, where the soft and unique coloring method can be seen in the obtained pieces.
The many colors used in the texture of carpets are: garlic red, blue, green, pale yellow and orange, which are almost equivalent to the colors that are used in traditional Iranian dyeing today and are a clear sign of the age of the dyeing industry. It is in Iran.

With the help of their creativity, the dyers created shades that were slightly different from each other. For example, in the combination of colors, they mixed purple with red to make a color like blackberry that had a tremendous shine, or with more mixture of hot yellow, they turned them into persimmon red. At the end of the Safavid era, Iran's dyeing industry lost its glory to a certain extent, along with the growth of modern dyeing in Europe. In the Pahlavi period, due to the use of foreign chemical dyes and imported cotton and wool for carpet weft, the originality and self-sufficiency of this art and technique was damaged, so that it is still not possible to easily save this traditional art from the plague it has suffered.

History of dyeing in Zanjan:
There is no information about the history of dyeing in Zanjan province, but it can be said with certainty that fiber dyeing has been common since the time of carpet weaving in the province, and carpet weavers were able to create exquisite carpets by realizing the dyeing properties of plants in the region and dyeing fibers such as wool and thread. and to produce a valuable one, based on the available documents, the Afshar tribes living in this province, in addition to producing the best carpets in Iran, were also responsible for dyeing the fibers. They prepared various colors by using different plants such as runas, henna, jashir, walnut skin, pomegranate skin, onion skin and plants with other vegetable pigments and by using various techniques and professional skills.

The dyeing workshop and the trading place for wool and cotton fibers of these tribes was next to Timche Bazaar, which extended from Zanjan Bazaar towards Khayam Belt Street. But today, due to the spread of chemical dyes, the traditional dyeing method has become less and less chemical dyeing workshops can be seen in Shatar Ali Caravanserai, Haj Shami Upper and Lower, Sarai Nahali and Haj Fath Elah. Skilled dyers such as: the late Wali Qarakhani, the late Haj Qurban Ali Sabbaghi, the late Abdullah Orangi and the late Haj Ahmed lived, who dyed wool and cotton fibers with effort, hard work and perseverance, and using dye-producing plants. Zanjan carpets were enriched.

Due to the stagnation of this industry, most of the veteran dyers of the province withdrew from this job, and only a few people are still interested in this job, including: Mr. Bakhtiari, Haj Zaidale Nderlou, and Farhad Yadgari.
 Types of colors used in dyeing:
Colors are divided into 2 natural and synthetic categories according to their origin.
Natural colors: they have plant, animal and mineral origin. Dyeing with them requires a lot of time and skill.
Synthetic colors: colors made from chemical and synthetic materials, which include ink and chrome colors.

Toothing in dyeing:
Teeth are materials used to stabilize and color the fibers more. By creating pores on the surface of the fibers, the teeth cause more penetration of the color into the fibers. Teeth are generally divided into 2 categories: vegetable and mineral, some are colorless and some are colored. In Iran, the most important teeth are alums.
All kinds of alums
The types of fiber toothing: toothing combined with dyeing - toothing after dyeing - toothing before dyeing (which is the most common type of toothing)
Tools for dyeing: Patil-Taqar-Timche-Tir and Dolo-Dreem-Kamche-Mizan

Dyeing steps
First, they prepare the required wool in colorless form. It is soaked in water for 24 hours. According to the number of required colors and the considered size, the wools are separated and each part is poured into a separate nylon.
The use of nylon in wool dyeing prevents it from becoming felt due to excessive boiling, and also prevents the color from darkening due to chemical interactions inside the container.
Dissolve the desired tooth in water and pour it into the wool. By mixing, they reach all parts of the toothed wool. Then they put the wool in a container with boiling water. It remains in boiling water for 1 hour.

After combing, the cooling of the wool should take place gradually (about 24 hours), after it cools completely, the wool is washed.
Add the pigment to the wool and mix well until the color reaches all its parts. The duration of boiling wool with pigment is about 3 to 4 hours.
Cooling the wool at this stage should also be done gradually. After the wool has cooled down, the final washing is done (mild detergents are used in each step of washing).