Tyrian Purple - Ancient History Encyclopedia Tyrian Purple by Mark Cartwright published on 21 July 2016 Tyrian purple (aka Royal purple or Imperial purple) is a dye extracted from the murex shellfish which was first produced by the Phoenician city of Tyre in the Bronze Age. Its difficulty of manufacture, striking purple to red colour range, and resistance to fading made clothing dyed using Tyrian purple highly desirable and expensive. The Phoenicians gained great fame as sellers of purple and exported its manufacture to its colonies, notably Carthage , from where it spread in popularity and was adopted by the Romans as a symbol of imperial authority and status. Manufacture In Phoenician mythology , the discovery of purple was credited to the pet dog of Tyros, the mistress of Tyre’s patron god Melqart . One day, while walking along the beach the couple noticed that after biting on a washed up mollusc the dog’s mouth was stained purple. Tyros asked for a garment made of the same colour and so began the famous dyeing industry.

Remove Ads Advertisement The first historical record of the dye is in texts from Ugarit and Hittite sources, which indicate that the manufacture of Tyrian purple began in the 14th century BCE in the eastern Mediterranean. Cloth dyed with Tyrian purple was a hugely successful export and brought the Phoenicians fame throughout the ancient world. Indeed, some historians (but certainly not all) claim that the very name Phoenicia derives from the Greek word phoinos meaning ‘dark red’ which refers to the dye and may itself be a translation of the Akkadian word for both Canaan and red, kinahhu. Despite their formidable reputation, the dyers of Tyre did not have a monopoly on the process even in the Late Bronze Age as four Linear B tablets from Knossos indicate that it was manufactured (albeit on a small scale) on Minoan Crete too, which also had a supply of the shellfish in its coastal waters. Tyrian purple dye was literally worth more than its weight in gold . The dye was extracted from the fluid of the Murex trunculus, Purpura lapillus, Helix ianthina, and especially the Murex brandaris shellfish.

Living in relatively deep water, these shellfish were caught in baited traps suspended from floats. The dye was then extracted from the glands of thousands of putrefied crushed shellfish left to bake in the sun. The resulting liquid was used to dye cloth fibres in manipulated variations of colours ranging from pink to violet. One can imagine the smell from the process must have been overwhelming and perhaps explains why Sidon ’s workshop was 14 kilometres south of the city at Sarepta. In his Natural History the Roman writer Pliny the Elder describes how the dye extraction process had by then developed. Taking three days, salt was added to the mash of shellfish glands which was then boiled down in tins. Finally, whole fleeces were dipped into the mixture when the correct hue had been reached. Fibres were dyed before weaving them into clothes and only very rarely would completed garments have been dyed; perhaps very valuable ones might have been redyed. Remove Ads Advertisement According to the historian B. Caseau, "10,000 shellfish would produce 1 gram of dyestuff, and that would only dye the hem of a garment in a deep colour" (Bagnall, 5673).

These numbers are supported by the quantity of discarded shells which, at Sidon for example, created a mountain 40 metres high. Such figures also explain why the dye was worth more than its weight in gold. In a 301 CE price edict from the reign of Roman emperor Diocletian , we learn that one pound of purple dye cost 150,000 denarii or around three pounds of gold (equal to around $19,000 at the time of writing ). A pound of pre-dyed wool would set you back one pound of gold. Such was the demand for Tyrian purple that vast deposits of the shells have been excavated on the outskirts of Sidon and Tyre and the species was all but driven to extinction along the coasts of Phoenicia. The Phoenicians not only exported the dyed cloth but also the process of extracting the dye, as indicated by the shell deposits found at Phoenician colonies across the Mediterranean. Carthage was particularly involved in its manufacture and continued to spread its fame into Roman times and the Byzantine period.

In antiquity, besides the Phoenician cities and Carthage, other known manufacturing centres included Rhodes , Lesbos, Motya ( Sicily ), Kerkouane (North Africa) and various other places in Asia Minor and southern Italy . Our Natural Dyes>>"Antique Rugs of the Future" Project Natural colourants fall into three categories, according to the techniques for using them - mordant dyes, vat dyes and direct dyes. Mordant Dyes This is the largest category. Without a mordant these dyes can not, or can do so on slightly, and the fixing action of a mordant is essential if the dye is to take. Mordants may be used before, during or subsequent to dyeing. When they are used both before and after the dyeing process, the resultant colour will be stronger. The mordant alum (potassium aluminum sulphate) is most commonly used as it gives the brightest colours. Vat Dyes The most important of these is indigo. Vat dyes are not soluble in water, but can be brewed in an alkaline liquid in a sealed container, or vat, to produce a liquor in which the dye is present as a colourless salt.

Urine is often used to make the indigo brew, so the liquor is yellow. It is diluted for dyeing and no blue colour appears until the yarn is removed from the dyebath. Contact with air reverses the original brewing reaction, precipitating indigo onto the fibres. Direct Dyes As the name suggests, direct dyes colour the fibre without a mordant or vatting. Walnut husks and leaves provide direct dyes that produce various shades of brown. Madder can also be used without a mordant. Natural dye colours are derived from the following elements: Blue/green Indigo has been in use for many centuries, and the plants of the genus Indigofera produce a much stronger dye that those of the Isatis (woad) family; however, dyerï¿½s woad is much more easily cultivated and therefore more widely used than Indigofera, which needs a tropical climate. Isatis tinctoria grows up to approximately 1.50 m(5ï¿½) in height and can be harvested three times a year, whereupon the leaves are dried and kept for two months before use.

Indigo sulphonic acid is a derivative of indigo, made from the combination of indigo and sulphuric acid, and there is evidence to show that this dye was sued as early as the sixteenth century, although it was not recognized scientifically until the eighteenth century. Brilliant yellow A number of these plants yield more than one type of yellow dye. Quercetin is frequently the main constituent, and is found in spurge, onion, St Johnï¿½s wort, tannerï¿½s sumach, buckthorn, chamomile and dyerï¿½s chamomile. It is also found in bastard hemp, although it is the datiscetin that produces the brilliant yellow colour that results from combining the dye with an alum mordant. Apigenin is found in chamomile, wild chamomile and dyerï¿½s weed. Chamomile and dyerï¿½s weed also contain luteolin. Fisetin is present in dyerï¿½s sumach and crocin in saffron. Centaury roots, turmeric, Artemisia and the leaves of daphne and wild apple are also occasionally used to produce yellow dye.

With the exception of madder, it is the plants yielding yellow dyes that are more readily available than any other primary colourants used in the dyeing process. But if we try to identify the different yellows used in antique rugs, it is very difficult, as many of the same dye-yielding plants grow throughout the all regions. PURPLES: Purple or violet is made by combining red and blue. The woolen yarn is first dyed with indigo and then by either madder or cochineal. Purple colour in certain antique kilims from Anatolia and Caucasia contains no indigo, but is derived from two madder dyes using an iron mordant. During the era of Phoenician and Roman empires, there arose a considerable demand amongst the nobility for ï¿½Tyrian purpleï¿½ (also known as royal purple or imperial purple). This purple-red dye named after the shellfish beds lying off the coast of ancient city Tyre.

This exotic and expensive colour was obtained from a mucus-secretion of the hypobranchial gland of a marine snail known as Murex brandaris (or the Spiny dye-murex), and whole villages on the eastern and southern coasts of the Mediterranean were solely engaged in the production of the purple dye. The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the second century BC, asserted (Onomasticon I, 45ï¿½49) that the purple dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant. Recently, the archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from colocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20thï¿½18th century BC. The fast, non-fading dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes. It is believed that the intensity of the purple hue improved, rather than faded, as the dyed cloth aged.

The main chemical constituent of the Tyrian dye was discovered by Paul Friedländer in 1909 to be 6,6′-dibromoindigo, a substance that had previously been synthesized in 1903. However, it has never been synthesized commercially. The Phoenicians also made a purple-blue indigo dye, called royal blue or hyacinth purple, which was made from a related species of marine snail, called Murex trunculus or the Banded dye-murex. In Azerbaijan, this color or dye was called "purpur". The ancient method for mass-producing the purple-blue dye from H. trunculus has not yet been successfully reproduced (because the purplish hue degrades too quickly resulting in blue only), but the use of this species has been confirmed in the archeology of Phoenicia, where large quantities of this sea snail's shells have been recovered from inside ancient live storage chambers used for harvesting. Allegedly, 60,000 murex were needed to produce one pound of dye. The dye was highly prized in ancient times. Sometimes known as royal blue, it was prohibitively expensive and only afforded by the highest ranking aristocracy.

Murex brandaris or the Spiny dye-murex (Purple-red color was obtained from this marine snail) Murex trunculus (also known as Hexaplex trunculus or banded dye-murex) is a marine snail, whose hypobranchial gland secretes a mucus that the ancient Canaanites/Phoenicians used as a distinctive purple-blue indigo dye. BROWNS: Generally, we use natural brown wool. Sometimes, walnut husks is also used to dye the wool brown colour. These made a direct dye which is easy to use. BLACKS: Black is achieved by combining plants with a tannin content with iron. This introduction of iron and the processing necessary damages the wool, so that it tends to corrode with time. Plant sources of tannin are the knobbly oak (of the Quercus family), oak apples, tannerï¿½s sumach, and the skin of the pomegranate (Punica granatum). Adding some walnut husks into the indigo dyed wool yields also very dark brownish black. WHITES: Natural wool yields ivory white.

To achieve a pure white, wool is bleached using qarğa düzü stone produced on the Absheron. For flatweaves, cotton is used to get a pure white. Note: Because of the regional variation of soil, dye plants from different areas will produce different results. There are, therefore, a multitude of possible colour permutations. The time required for colouring the wool, the mordants and the water used will also affect the end colour. One dyebath will produce different results from another. Tyrian purple Tyrian purple The Tyrian purple (in Greek, πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin : purpura), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple-red dye which was first produced by the ancient Phoenicians . Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th-century-BC historian Theopompus reported, "Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon " in Asia Minor. The expense rendered purple-dyed textiles status symbols, and early sumptuary laws dictated and forbade their use.

The production of shellfish purple was tightly controlled in Byzantium and subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the coloring of silks for imperial use, so that a particularly elite member of the imperial family was porphyrogenitos, "born in the purple". Collection The dye substance occurs naturally, but must be harvested by humans. It consists of a fresh mucous secretion from the hypobranchial gland of a medium-sized predatory sea snail , the marine gastropod Murex brandaris, currently known as Haustellum brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758). This species is commonly called the spiny dye-murex, and it is a species in the family Muricidae, the murex or rock shells. The current range for this species is the "central and western Mediterranean". In Biblical Hebrew, which like Phoenician is a dialect of Canaanite, the Tyrian purple-red dye extracted from the Murex brandaris is known as argaman ארגמן.

Another dye extracted from a related sea snail, Hexaplex trunculus, produced a sky-blue indigo colour, called tekhelet תְּכֵלֶת‎ [təxelɛθ] (translated 'indigo') when processed in sunlight (see Photochemistry ). Many other species worldwide within the family Muricidae, for example Plicopurpura pansa (Gould, 1853), from the tropical eastern Pacific, and Plicopurpura patula (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Caribbean zone of the western Atlantic, can also produce a similar substance (which turns into an enduring purple dye when exposed to sunlight) and this ability has sometimes also been historically exploited by local inhabitants in the areas where these snails occur. (Some other predatory gastropods, such as some wentletraps in the family Epitoniidae, seem to also produce a similar substance, although this has not been studied or exploited commercially.) In nature the snails use the secretion as part of their predatory behaviour and as an antimicrobial lining on egg masses. The snail also secretes this substance when it is poked or physically attacked by humans.

Therefore the dye can be collected either by "milking" the snails, which is more labour intensive but is a renewable resource , or by collecting and then crushing the snails completely, which is destructive. David Jacoby remarks that "twelve thousand snails of Murex brandaris yield no more than 1.4 g of pure dye, enough to color only the trim of a single garment." Royal blue As well as Tyrian purple, the Phoenicians also made a purple-blue indigo dye, referred to as royal blue or hyacinth purple, which was made from a closely-related species of marine snail. The Phoenicians established an ancillary production facility on the Iles Purpuraires at Mogador, in Morocco . The gastropod harvested at this western Moroccan dye production facility was Hexaplex trunculus (mentioned above) also known by the older name Murex trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)). This second species of dye murex currently occurs on "the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa (Spain and Portugal, Morocco, and the Canary Islands)".

Historical overview of Tyrian purple The fast, non-fading dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes. It is believed that the intensity of the purple hue improved, rather than faded, as the dyed cloth aged. Pliny the Elder described the dyeing process of two purples in his Natural History: “ ... the Tyrian hue ... is considered of the best quality when it has exactly the colour of clotted blood, and is of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a shining appearance when held up to the light; hence it is that we find Homer speaking of "purple blood." ” Archaeological data from Tyre indicate that the snails were collected in large vats and left to decompose. This produced a hideous stench that was actually mentioned by ancient authors. Not much is known about the subsequent steps, and the actual ancient method for mass-producing the two murex dyes has not yet been successfully reconstructed; this special "blackish clotted blood" colour, which was prized above all others, is believed to be achieved by double-dipping the cloth, once in the indigo dye of H.

trunculus and once in the purple-red dye of M. brandaris. The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the second century BC, asserted (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that the purple dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant . Recently, the archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from collocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BC. The production of Murex purple for the Byzantine court came to an abrupt end with the sack of Constantinople in 1204, the critical episode of the Fourth Crusade . David Jacoby concludes that "no Byzantine emperor nor any Latin ruler in former Byzantine territories could muster the financial resources required for the pursuit of murex purple production.

On the other hand, murex fishing and dyeing with genuine purple are attested for Egypt in the tenth to thirteenth centuries." By contrast, Jacoby finds that there are no mentions of purple fishing or dyeing, nor trade in the colorant in any Western source, even in the Frankish Levant. The European West turned instead to vermilion provided by the insect Kermes vermilio, known as grana, or crimson , known as cochineal . Dye chemistry The main chemical constituent of the Tyrian dye was discovered by Paul Friedländer in 1909 to be 6,6′-dibromoindigo, a substance that had previously been synthesized in 1903. However, it has never been synthesized commercially. In 1998, through a lengthy trial and error process, an English engineer named John Edmonds succeeded in cracking the secret of how to dye Tyrian purple. He researched recipes and observations of dyers from the 15th century through the 18th century. He explored the biotechnology process behind woad fermentation. After collaborating with an Israeli chemist, Edmonds hypothesized that an alkaline fermenting vat was necessary.

He studied an incomplete ancient recipe for Tyrian purple recorded by Pliny the Elder. By altering the percentage of sea salt in the dye vat, he was able to successfully dye wool a deep purple colour. Modern hue rendition Tyrian purple The true colour of Tyrian purple, like most high chroma pigments, cannot be accurately displayed on a computer display, nor are ancient reports entirely consistent, but these swatches give an indication of the likely range in which it appeared: <span style="background-color:#b80049">_________</span> <span style="background-color:#990024">_________</span> This is the sRGB colour #990024, intended for viewing on an output device with a gamma of 2.2. It is a representation of RHS colour code 66A , which has been equated to "Tyrian red" , a term which is often used as a synonym for Tyrian purple.

Shades of Tyrian purple colour comparison chart Modern research shows, as discussed above, that various formulations of Tyrian purple existed on a continuous spectrum within approximately the following range of colours : <ul> <li style = "background-color: #b80049; color: #ffffff"> Bright Tyrian Purple (Bright Imperial Purple) (Tyrian Pink) (Hex: #B80049) (RGB: 184, 0, 73)<li> <li style = "background-color: #990024; color: #ffffff"> Medium Tyrian Purple (Medium Imperial Purple) (Tyrian Red) (Hex: #990024) (RGB: 153, 0, 36)<li> <li style = "background-color: #66023C; color: #ffffff"> Tyrian Purple (Imperial Purple) (Hex: #66023C) (RGB: 102, 2, 60)<li> </ul> (Wikipedia) Tyrian purple Interpretation Translation Tyrian purple 1. Also called Tyrian dye.

a highly prized crimson or purple dye of classical antiquity, originally obtained at great expense from a certain shellfish: later shown to be an indigo derivative and synthetically produced, and now replaced by other synthetic dyes. 2. a vivid, purplish red. [1575-85] naturally occurring dye highly valued in antiquity. It is closely related to indigo (q.v.). * * * tyro Look at other dictionaries: Tyrian purple — (Greek: polytonic|πορφύρα, porphyra , Latin: purpura ), also known as royal purple, imperial purple or imperial dye, is a purple red dye which was first produced by the ancient Phoenicians in the city of Tyre.Tyrian purple was expensive: the… … Wikipedia Tyrian purple — Tyrian Tyr i*an, a. [L. Tyrius, from Tyrus Tyre, Gr. ?.] 1. Of or pertaining to Tyre or its people. [1913 Webster] 2. Being of the color called Tyrian purple. [1913 Webster] The bright eyed perch with fins of Tyrian dye. Pope.

[1913 Webster]… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English Tyrian purple — or Tyrian dye n. 1. a natural purple dye originally extracted from the glands of snails (family Muricidae) by the ancient Phoenicians of Tyre: widely used in the ancient and classical world in the dyeing of cloth 2. bluish red … English World dictionary Tyrian purple — 1. noun a) A deep purple dyestuff obtained from the bodies of mollusks of the genus Murex b) A deep purple colour, tinted with red, like that of the dye. 2. adjective Of a deep purple colour, tinted with red, like that of the dye. See Also: Tyre … Wiktionary Tyrian purple — /ˌtɪriən ˈpɜpəl/ (say .tireeuhn perpuhl) noun a highly prized purple dye of classical antiquity, originally obtained at great expense from a certain shellfish. It was later shown to be an indigo derivative and synthesised, and it has been… … Australian English dictionary Tyrian purple — noun 1.

a red purple to deep purple dye obtained from snails or made synthetically • Hypernyms: ↑dye, ↑dyestuff 2. a vivid purplish red color • Hypernyms: ↑reddish purple, ↑royal purple … Useful english dictionary Tyrian purple — noun Etymology: Tyre, maritime city of ancient Phoenicia Date: circa 1586 a crimson or purple dye that is related to indigo, was obtained by the ancient Greeks and Romans from gastropod mollusks, and is now made synthetically … New Collegiate Dictionary Tyrian purple — noun see purple … English new terms dictionary Tyrian purple — Tyr′ian pur′ple n. 1) tex anq Also called Tyr′ian dye′. a highly prized purple dye of antiquity, an indigo derivative orig. obtained from a certain shellfish and later synthetically produced 2) a vivid, purplish red … From formal English to slang Tyrian — Tyr i*an, a. [L. Tyrius, from Tyrus Tyre, Gr. ?.] 1. Of or pertaining to Tyre or its people. [1913 Webster] 2.

Being of the color called Tyrian purple. [1913 Webster] The bright eyed perch with fins of Tyrian dye. Pope. [1913 Webster] {Tyrian… … The Collaborative International Dictionary of English 16+ Murex - Tyrian Purple Murex - Tyrian Purple Tyrian purple (Greek: πορφύρα, porphura), also known as royal purple or imperial purple, is a purple-red dye made by the ancient Canaanites/Phoenicians in the city of Tyre, from a mucus-secretion of the hypobranchial gland of a marine snail known as the Murex brandaris or the Spiny dye-murex. The Phoenicians also made a purple-blue indigo dye, called royal blue or hyacinth purple, which was made from a related species of marine snail, called the Murex trunculus or the Banded dye-murex.

Tyrian purple was expensive: the fourth-century BC historian Theopompus reported, "Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon" in Asia Minor.[1] The fast, non-fading dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes. Pliny the Elder described the dyeing process of two purples in his Natural History - ... the Tyrian hue ... is considered of the best quality when it has exactly the colour of clotted blood, and is of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a shining appearance when held up to the light; hence it is that we find Homer speaking of "purple blood." The peoples of Crete, Tyre, Sidon, and other sites on the Mediterranean apparently obtained the dye from three species of marine mollusks, Murex brandaris, Murex trunculus, and Thais haemastoma. The Tyrians used M. brandaris mostly, while M. trunculus was the principal source for most of Sidonian dyes.

The fluid containing the dye is produced by a gland located in the mantle cavity of the snail between the rectum and the gills, and when first exuded it is a colorless or milky fluid. Huge quantities of the glands of larger specimens and of whole smaller specimens, ground up, were placed in vats with salt added to slow decomposition and exposed to sunlight for two to three days. The dye changes under the influence of direct sunlight, first becoming yellow, then passing through pale-green shades to bluish, and finally turning red-purple. Next the material was diluted five or six times with water and boiled at a moderate rate for ten days. At the end of this period, the strength of the dye was tested by soaking pieces of wool in the fluid for five hours. Reddish-purple dye is most readily obtainable from the Murex brandaris and Thais haemastoma as opposed to the bluish-purple obtained from the Murex trunculus. The photo-chemical properties of the trunculus dye occurst when the dye is in a reduced state (a prerequisite for dyeing wool), exposure to ultra-violet light transforms the blue-purple colorant (dibromoindigo) to unadulterated blue (indigo).

The main chemical constituent of the Tyrian dye was discovered by Paul Friedländer in 1909 to be 6,6′-dibromoindigo, a substance that had previously been synthesized in 1903. However, it has never been synthesized commercially. Mexican and South American natives still prefer the molluscan dyes for their garbs, since they produce more natural - looking and traditional hues. In Oaxaca, the Mixtec search the seashore for the Purpura patula pansa (Gould, 1853 - the "Wide-mouthed Purpura"), squeeze some of their juices onto yarns, and return the shell to its home, to be used again the following season. These same dyes were used as early as 400 BC. Tyrian dye - definition of Tyrian dye by The Free Dictionary Tyrian dye - definition of Tyrian dye by The Free Dictionary Also found in: Thesaurus , Encyclopedia , Wikipedia . Tyr·i·an purple (tĭr′ē-ən) n. A reddish-purple dye obtained from certain Mediterranean mollusks of the family Muricidae that was highly prized in antiquity.

[After Tyre.] Tyrian purple n 1. (Dyeing) a deep purple dye obtained from molluscs of the genus Murex and highly prized in antiquity 2. (Colours) a. a vivid purplish-red colour b. (as adjective): a Tyrian-purple robe. Sometimes shortened to: Tyrian Tyr′ian pur′ple n. 1. Also called Tyr′ian dye′. a highly prized purple dye of antiquity, an indigo derivative orig. obtained from a certain shellfish and later synthetically produced. 2. a vivid, purplish red. ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend: Tyrian purple - a red-purple to deep purple dye obtained from snails or made synthetically dye , dyestuff - a usually soluble substance for staining or coloring e.g. fabrics or hair 2. Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us , add a link to this page, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content .

Link to this page: Copyright © 2003-2017 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional. Tyrian_purple Tyrian_purple Tyrian purple Tyrian purple (Greek: πορφύρα, porphyra, Latin: purpura), also known as royal purple or imperial purple, is a purple-red dye which was first produced by the ancient Phoenicians in the city of Tyre. Tyrian purple was expensive: the fourth-century BC historian Theopompus reported, "Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at Colophon" in Asia Minor. [1] The dye substance occurs naturally, but must be harvested by humans.

It consists of a fresh mucus secretion from the hypobranchial gland of a medium-sized predatory sea snail, the marine gastropod Murex brandaris modern name Bolinus brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly called the spiny dye-murex, a species in the family Muricidae, the murex or rock shells. The current range for this species is the "central and western Mediterranean" [2] In Biblical Hebrew, which like Phoenician is a dialect of Canaanite, the Tyrian purple-red dye extracted from the Murex brandaris is known as shani שָׁנִי [ʃɔni], but usually translated as 'scarlet'. Another dye extracted from a related sea snail, Hexaplex trunculus , could produce a purple-blue color called argaman אַרְגָּמָן [argɔmɔn] (translated 'purple') when processed in shade, or a sky-blue indigo color, called tekhelet תְּכֵלֶת‎ [təxelɛθ] (translated 'indigo') when processed in sunlight.

Many other species worldwide within the family Muricidae, for example Plicopurpura pansa (Gould, 1853), from the tropical eastern Pacific, and Plicopurpura patula (Linnaeus, 1758) from the Caribbean zone of the western Atlantic, can also produce a similar substance (which turns into an enduring purple dye when exposed to sunlight) and this ability has sometimes also been historically exploited by local inhabitants in the areas where these snails occur. (Some other predatory gastropods, such as some wentletraps in the family Epitoniidae, seem to also produce a similar substance, although this has not been studied or exploited commercially.) In nature the snails use the secretion as part of their predatory behaviour, but the snail also secretes this substance when it is poked or physically attacked by humans. Therefore the dye can be collected either by "milking" the snails, which is more labor intensive but is a renewable resource , or by collecting and then crushing the snails completely, which is destructive.

Contents 5 See also Royal blue As well as Tyrian purple, the Phoenicians also made a purple-blue indigo dye , referred to as royal blue or hyacinth purple, which was made from a closely-related species of marine snail. The Phoenicians established an ancillary production facility on the Iles Purpuraires at Mogador, in Morocco. [3] The gastropod harvested at this western Moroccan dye production facility was Phyllonotus trunculus also known by the older name Murex trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758)). This second species of dye murex currently occurs on "the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe and Africa (Spain and Portugal, Morocco, and the Canary Islands" [4] Historical overview of Tyrian purple The fast, non-fading dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by Romans, who used it to colour ceremonial robes. It is believed that the intensity of the purple hue improved, rather than faded, as the dyed cloth aged. Pliny the Elder described the dyeing process of two purples in his Natural History [5] : “ ... the Tyrian hue ...

is considered of the best quality when it has exactly the colour of clotted blood, and is of a blackish hue to the sight, but of a shining appearance when held up to the light; hence it is that we find Homer speaking of "purple blood." ” Archaeological data from Tyre indicate that the snails were collected in large vats and left to decompose. This produced a hideous stench that was actually mentioned by ancient authors. Not much is known about the subsequent steps, and the actual ancient method for mass-producing the two murex dyes has not yet been successfully reconstructed; this special "blackish clotted blood" colour, which was prized above all others, is believed to be achieved by double-dipping the cloth, once in the indigo dye of H. trunculus and once in the purple-red dye of M. brandaris.[citation needed] The Roman mythographer Julius Pollux, writing in the second century BC, asserted (Onomasticon I, 45–49) that the purple dye was first discovered by Heracles, or rather, by his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the coast of the Levant.

Recently, the archaeological discovery of substantial numbers of Murex shells on Crete suggests that the Minoans may have pioneered the extraction of Imperial purple centuries before the Tyrians. Dating from colocated pottery suggests the dye may have been produced during the Middle Minoan period in the 20th–18th century BC. [6] [7] The main chemical constituent of the Tyrian dye was discovered by Paul Friedländer in 1909 to be 6,6′-dibromoindigo, a substance that had previously been synthesized in 1903. However, it has never been synthesized commercially. [8] [9] Modern rendition Internet B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) The true colour of Tyrian purple, like most high chroma pigments, cannot be accurately displayed on a computer display, nor are ancient reports entirely consistent, but these swatches give an indication of the likely range in which it appeared: _________ _________ This is the sRGB colour #990024, intended for viewing on an output device with a gamma of 2.2.

It is a representation of RHS colour code 66A [10] , which has been equated to "Tyrian red" [11] , a term which is often used as a synonym for Tyrian purple. Shades of Tyrian purple colour comparison chart Modern research shows, as discussed above, that various formulations of Tyrian purple existed on a continuous spectrum within approximately the following range of colours: Bright Tyrian Purple (Bright Imperial Purple) (Tyrian Pink) (Hex: #B80049) (RGB: 184, 0, 73) Medium Tyrian Purple (Medium Imperial Purple) (Tyrian Red) (Hex: #990024) (RGB: 97, 64, 81) Tyrian Purple (Imperial Purple) (Hex: #66023C) (RGB: 102, 2, 60) References ^ Theopompus, cited by Athenaeus (12:526) around 200 BC; according to Gulick, Charles Barton 1941. Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists.

Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ^ Radwin, G. E. and A. D'Attilio, 1986. Murex shells of the world. An illustrated guide to the Muricidae, p93, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 284pp incl 192 figs. & 32 pls. ^ C.Michael Hogan, Mogador: Promontory Fort, The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, Nov 2, 2007 [1] ^ Radwin, G. E. and A. D'Attilio, 1986. Murex shells of the world. An illustrated guide to the Muricidae, p93, Stanford University Press, Stanford, California, USA, 284pp incl 192 figs. & 32 pls. ^ Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, H.T. Riley) Book IX. The Natural History of Fishes. Chapters 60-65. [2] ^ Reese, David S. (1987).

"Palaikastro Shells and Bronze Age Purple-Dye Production in the Mediterranean Basin," Annual of the British School of Archaeology at Athens, 82, 201-6). ^ Stieglitz, Robert R. (1994), "The Minoan Origin of Tyrian Purple," Biblical Archaeologist, 57, 46-54. ^ Tyrian purple | Define Tyrian purple at Dictionary.com Tyrian purple noun 1. Also called Tyrian dye. a highly prized crimson or purple dye of classical antiquity, originally obtained at great expense from a certain shellfish: later shown to be an indigo derivative and synthetically produced, and now replaced by other synthetic dyes. 2. The Color Purple - Sarah Albee Home » Blog » General » The Color Purple The Color Purple Ever wonder why the color purple has long been known as the color reserved for royalty? A sort-of purple cloak, favored by high-ranking ancient Romans,from "Costumes of All Nations," 1881 (via Wikimedia) I’ve blogged before– actually a few times– about what a dismal job it was to be a textile dyer, over the course of centuries.

Before the discovery of synthetic dyes in the mid-1800s, dying fabric was extremely complicated, dangerous, and smelly work. Dyers worked with corrosive acids, poisonous salts, and steaming vats of nasty-smelling muck. Nowadays practically all fabric dye is produced synthetically in a laboratory, but prior to 1850 or so, colors could only be created with stuff found in nature. And for centuries, purple was the most rare and costly color of all. Tyrian purple, as it came to be known, was produced by Phoenician people in the city of Tyre. They were known to the Greeks as Phoinikes, or the “Purple Men.” The Phoenicians lived in a coastal area east of Egypt on a strip of land in what is now Lebanon, from about 900 BC until 600 BC. Although the Minoans were probably the first to make purple, back in 2500 BC, it was the Phoenicians who produced enough of the stuff to trade and grow prosperous. Tyrian purple was sought after by Roman Emperors and imperial monarchs throughout Asia. And it came from a rather unlikely source: snail snot.

Muricids are gastropods whose hypobranchial gland secretes a mucusey substance that turns different colors when exposed to sunlight. Tyrian purple was produced from a mollusk known as Murex brandaris. The Phoenicians established beachside dye centers wherever they found significant populations of these shells. Each Murex brandaris produces just two drops of a milky-looking secretion. Dyers had to crush thousands of shells to produce enough dye for just one toga. After being smooshed, the mollusks were left in the sun to rot. The oozy slime they secreted was painstakingly collected. By carefully timing its exposure to sunlight, dyers created colors from green to violet to red, to the most prized, an almost-black purple. The smell from the rotting mollusks was so atrocious that no one could bear to live nearby. Eventually, Tyrian purple was replaced by a new purple dye that was much less costly to produce. The new dye was made from a species of lichen. But the term royal purple remains part of our language to this day. It’s even in the Crayola crayon box.

Question: What colour is Tyrian, a dye highly prized by the Romans?
Answer: Purple