Aleppo: Cultivators and Processors of Madder-Root

Date: c. 1840

Madder-root, or Rubia Tinctorum, is a vegetable red dye suitable for colouring leather, wool, cotton, and silk. Sir John Bowring (d. 1872) noted that this crop was cultivated in the Aleppo district. The plant is common across Syria and does not require intensive cultivation. See also: Dyer and Textile Printer; Tanner.

Citation: Bowring, John. Report on the Commercial Statistics of Syria (London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1840. Reprinted: New York: Arno Press, 1973), p. 17.