In antiquity purple was the color of royalty. Cloth dyed with the purple dye made in Phoenicia was highly prized throughout the ancient world. It was colorfast (i.e. it did not fade) and it was difficult to make and only available in small quantities. Pliny the elder discuss the dye in chapters 60 to 65 of "The Natural Histories":
"The most favourable season for taking these fish is after the rising of the Dog-star, or else before spring; for when they have once discharged their waxy secretion, their juices have no consistency: this, however, is a fact unknown in the dyers' workshops, although it is a point of primary importance. After it is taken, the vein is extracted, which we have previously spoken of, to which it is requisite to add salt, a sextarius about to every hundred pounds of juice. It is sufficient to leave them to steep for a period of three days, and no more, for the fresher they are, the greater virtue there is in the liquor. It is then set to boil in vessels of tin, and every hundred amphoræ ought to be boiled down to five hundred pounds of dye, by the application of a moderate heat; for which purpose the vessel is placed at the end of a long funnel, which communicates with the furnace; while thus boiling, the liquor is skimmed from time to time, and with it the flesh, which necessarily adheres to the veins. About the tenth day, generally, the whole contents of the cauldron are in a liquefied state, upon which a fleece, from which the grease has been cleansed, is plunged into it by way of making trial; but until such time as the colour is found to satisfy the wishes of those preparing it, the liquor is still kept on the boil. The tint that inclines to red is looked upon as inferior to that which is of a blackish hue. The wool is left to lie in soak for five hours, and then, after carding it, it is thrown in again, until it has fully imbibed the colour."
The fish Pliny is referring to is the Murex snail now called Bolinus brandaris. One can imagine the smell of the dye works at Tyre as tons of shell fish fermented in the vats. The rest of the mollusc was discarded when the hypobranchial gland (the vein Pliny was referring to). Zvi Koren has reconstructed the process and successfully dyed cloth using the ancient techniques.
"The most favourable season for taking these fish is after the rising of the Dog-star, or else before spring; for when they have once discharged their waxy secretion, their juices have no consistency: this, however, is a fact unknown in the dyers' workshops, although it is a point of primary importance. After it is taken, the vein is extracted, which we have previously spoken of, to which it is requisite to add salt, a sextarius about to every hundred pounds of juice. It is sufficient to leave them to steep for a period of three days, and no more, for the fresher they are, the greater virtue there is in the liquor. It is then set to boil in vessels of tin, and every hundred amphoræ ought to be boiled down to five hundred pounds of dye, by the application of a moderate heat; for which purpose the vessel is placed at the end of a long funnel, which communicates with the furnace; while thus boiling, the liquor is skimmed from time to time, and with it the flesh, which necessarily adheres to the veins. About the tenth day, generally, the whole contents of the cauldron are in a liquefied state, upon which a fleece, from which the grease has been cleansed, is plunged into it by way of making trial; but until such time as the colour is found to satisfy the wishes of those preparing it, the liquor is still kept on the boil. The tint that inclines to red is looked upon as inferior to that which is of a blackish hue. The wool is left to lie in soak for five hours, and then, after carding it, it is thrown in again, until it has fully imbibed the colour."
The fish Pliny is referring to is the Murex snail now called Bolinus brandaris. One can imagine the smell of the dye works at Tyre as tons of shell fish fermented in the vats. The rest of the mollusc was discarded when the hypobranchial gland (the vein Pliny was referring to). Zvi Koren has reconstructed the process and successfully dyed cloth using the ancient techniques.
This is the structure of the purple dye and interestingly it is showing up as an interesting lead in GSK inhibition. If you enjoy the weekend forays into the chemistry of antiquity let me know and I will make it a regular feature.
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