It has been suggested that the name Phoenicia itself means 'land of purple'. ![]() ![]() ![]() Tyrian purple may first have been used by the ancient Phoenicians as early as 1570 BC. Like any perishable organic material, they are usually subject to rapid decomposition and their preservation over millennia requires exacting conditions to prevent destruction by microorganisms. Despite their value to archaeological research, textiles are quite rare in the archaeological record. The color of textiles from this period provides insight into socio-cultural relationships within ancient societies, in addition to providing insights on technological achievements, fashion, social stratification, agriculture and trade connections. This popular idea of purple being elite contributes to the modern day wide-spread belief that purple is a "royal color". The pigment was expensive and time-consuming to produce, and items colored with it became associated with power and wealth. In the same way as the modern-day Latin alphabet of Phoenician origin, Phoenician purple pigment was spread through the unique Phoenician trading empire. Production of Tyrian purple for use as a fabric dye began as early as 1200 BC by the Phoenicians, and was continued by the Greeks and Romans until 1453 AD, with the fall of Constantinople. Tyrian purple is a pigment made from the mucus of several species of Murex snail. In the foreground, two Roman magistrates are identified by their toga praetexta, white with a stripe of Tyrian purple.īiological pigments were often difficult to acquire, and the details of their production were kept secret by the manufacturers. Caesar, riding in the chariot, wears the solid Tyrian purple toga picta. These dye kits are available in limited quantities or on demand since the dye production is painstakingly slow and as I said I am just processing what little amounts of snails I use for my own family consumption.A twentieth-century depiction of a Roman triumph celebrated by Julius Caesar. ![]() If preserved properly, murex dyes and pigments remain vibrant and shiny for centuries and even intensify with time as the dyed stuff keeps interacting with the elements (precisely sun light). Small samples of dyed silk and wool (10 different hues in total) A capsule of nearly pure purple pigment that was in ancient times worth several times its weight in gold (for instance up to 100 pounds of fresh snails are needed to produce less than 1g of more or less pure pigment)Ĥ. Some dried glands (the organ that actually yields the dye precursor inside the snail)ģ. A set of 3 murex shells the kinds historically used to produce the dye namely (from right to left in the attached photo) Purpura haemastoma, Hexaplex trunculus and Bolinus brandaris.Ģ. After years of experiments and research and at the demand of many of my friends around the world, I thought of putting together the main ingredients of this legendary dye in small elegant mini kits that would be ideal for workshops, lectures or presentations so that other people in other parts of the world can see and smell what these dyes looked like centuries ago!Įach of these mini wooden kits comes complete with:ġ.
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