Purple in the ancient world was very expensive. Why did this dye become so desired?
In Rome, purple fabrics were reserved for emperors. Purple became synonymous with power. The Phoenicians were the first to produce purple during the Bronze Age.
What is Phoenician purple?
The Phoenicians specialized in purple production during the Bronze Age, around 1500 BCE. The dye came from marine snails found on the coasts of the Levant. Two crucial species were the Murex trunculus and the Purpura haemastoma, also known as the purple dye murex. They secreted a chemical compound called dibromoindigo, which gave purple its precious, luminous shade.
According to Phoenician mythology, the discovery of purple is attributed to a dog of the lover of the god Melqart, later identified with Heracles by the Greeks. The dog was said to stroll along the beach and bite a marine snail. The fur of the dog was then stained with the snail’s secretion, which, when exposed to light, turned it purple.
