![]() The Phoenicians set up dye works throughout their lands, including some on the islands of Malta and Motya. Some scholars suggest that even the name Phoenicia came from the Greek word for purple.Īlthough the centers of the purple-dyeing industry were in Tyre and Sidon, other places, too, were producing murex-dyed fabrics. So important to the Phoenicians was their dyeing industry that their earliest coins, struck in Tyre around the middle of the fifth century BCE, show a murex shell on one side. The color is mentioned in the Bible, as in this passage from the Book of Esther: “Then Mordecai went out from the presence of the king in royal robes of blue and white, with a great golden crown and a mantle of fine linen and purple.” (Esther 8:15) High officials of the church were also among those who wore Tyrian purple. Later, however, the purple band became the mark of a senator.įinally, the color was reserved for the Roman emperor, to indicate his rank and authority. The deepest shade of the dye was at various times and in certain countries reserved for kings and other rulers, who were said to be “born to the purple.” In Rome, there was a period when any citizens rich enough to afford the purple could wear it in a band on their togas (the distinctive garb worn by male Roman citizens). In fact, it has been determined that one pound of fine silk dyed to the best “royal purple” could have been sold for today's equivalent of up to $28,000! Only a wealthy few, therefore, could afford the Phoenicians’ purple-dyed fabric. Little wonder, then, that Tyrian purple dye was incredibly expensive. Just how many snails did it take to produce a usable amount of dye? Since each murex gland contained only a drop or two of that yellowish liquid, it took about 60,000 sea snails to produce a single pound of dye. Adding to the dye's reputation was the fact that all the colors were fast that is, fabric dyed with murex did not fade over time. Not surprisingly, the deep “royal purple” that brought the Phoenicians such fame required the most dye. Colors ranging from rose-pink through various reds to dark violet could be created by manipulating the amount of dye that was used and how long it was exposed to sunlight. Because of the terrible odor, the dye works in Tyre and Sidon were set up just outside of the city, on the downwind side of town.īesides making the famous purple color, dye workers were able to produce other shades as well. Unfortunately for the dye workers, the rotting sea snails produced a strong, very unpleasant smell. When it had boiled down to a fraction of its original volume, the dye was ready. This liquid was collected and slowly and steadily simmered for nearly two weeks. The snails were then put into vats or shallow pans of salt water to putrefy.Īs the bodies decayed, they produced a yellowish liquid. The source of the dye was the murex's hypobranchial gland, which meant that first the shell had to be cracked and the murex's body had to be removed. ![]() Two species of sea snail were used, Murex trunculus and Murex brandaris. The dye itself was not particularly complicated to make, but the process was labor-intensive. Since a murex shell is only about one and one-half inches long, it is clear that these shell piles represent the industry's use of millions of sea snails. Huge piles even a hill of murex shells have been found around the sites of the dye works, indicating the great productivity of the dye workers. Here, locally woven white linen, silk, and wool fabrics were colored in vats cut out of rock. The cities of Tyre and Sidon were the main centers of the Phoenicians’ famous dyeing industry. Purple-dyed clothing, then, was a luxury usually reserved for kings. Since each murex produced only a few drops of dye, however, fabrics colored by the murex were extremely expensive. It was then processed to produce the color known as Tyrian purple. The source of this dye was a small sea snail, the murex, which was collected in vast quantities from the warm Mediterranean waters just off the Phoenician coast. Perhaps the most unusual of their commodities was one of their own natural resources, rare and beautiful purple dye. If (slot) slot.addService(googletag.As the ancient world's greatest sea traders, the Phoenicians dealt in a variety of fabulous items. (function (a, d, o, r, i, c, u, p, w, m) Biblical royal purple dye from snails recreated by Tunisian enthusiast - The Jerusalem Post
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