abstract:Persian red is a deep reddish orange earth or pigment from the Persian Gulf composed of a silicate of iron and alumina, with magnesia. It is also called artificial vermillion.
TheSumed pipeline, which allows tankersfromthe Persian Gulfto offloadoilin the Red Sea, and others to pick up the load on Egypt's Mediterraneancoast, alsobrings inatidyrevenue.
Filaree Farm in Okanogan, Wash. (509-422-6940, www.filareefarm.com), sells some of the spiciest stuff available, including the red-tipped Persian Star from Uzbekistan and Russian Inferno from, interestingly enough, Spokane, Wash.
Sea levels were 150 feet lower then, because the cold had locked up so much moisture in northern ice-caps, so not only were most Indonesian islands linked by land, but the Persian Gulf was dry and, crucially, the southern end of the Red Sea was a narrow strait.