Tyrian purple is a pigment made from the mucus of several species of Murex snail. 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.

Murex was used in antiquity to describe spiny sea snails, especially those associated with the production of purple dye. Murex is one of the oldest classical seashell names still used by the scientific community.

Bolinus brandaris (originally called Murex brandaris by Linnaeus and also Haustellum brandaris), and commonly known as the purple dye murex or the spiny dye-murex, is a species of medium-sized predatory sea snail, an edible marine gastropod mollusk in the family Muricidae, the murex snails or the rock snails.

2016年7月21日 · 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 Murex snail gives a purple dye and did not give a blue dye in ancient times. It needs clear glass, invented in 100 CE, to allow ultraviolet light sunlight, to remove it's 2 bromine atoms in order to give a blue dye.

2024年8月12日 · To produce the dye, ancient people collected thousands of murex sea snails along the beach (species like Hexaplex trunculus, Bolinus brandaris, and Stramonita haemastoma each produced a slightly different shade) and either …

between murex and the Minoan state, this study explores the contribution of murex dye production from its early industrial origins on Crete through the later expansion into the broader Aegean.

2018年8月9日 · As highlighted in a display at the Museum of Malacology in Cupra Marittima, Italy, Tyrian purple came for example from the Bolinus brandaris, more simply known as the "purple dye murex" or the "spiny dye-murex". This edible sea snail characterised by a sculpted shell comes from the family Muricidae, murex snails or rock snails.

the ancient method of royal tyrian purple extract from the murex sea snails revealed. Most marine snails of the families Muricidae and Thaididae, which make up the genera Murex, Thais, and Plicopurpura, produce in the hypobranchial gland (mucus gland) a viscous liquid secretion.

It explores the evolution of dyeing practices from the Mediterranean Bronze Age through to the Roman Empire, highlighting key archaeological findings and literary sources that document the social and economic implications of purple textiles.