by PATRICK E. MCGOVERN

THE VHOENICIANS

A DYE FOR GODSAND KINGS

PHOENICIA'S MOST FAMOUS EXPORT IS STILL

REGARDEDASTHECOLOROFROYALTY

Purple, extolled by the poet Robert Browning as the"dye of dyes," has close associations with the Phoeni-cians. According to the Greek legend the dye was

discovered by Melqart, king and deity ofTyre, when he andthe nymph Tyros were strolling along the Mediterraneanshore with their dog. Biting into a large sea-snail or mol-lusk, the dog stained its mouth purple, whereupon Melqartpromptly dyed a gown with the new-found substance andpresented it to his consort.

The legend may well retain a kernel of truth. TheMediterranean mollusk species (Murex trunculus, M. brandaris,and Purpura haemostoma), whose hypobranchial glands containthe chemical precursors for the purple dye, come into

THE PHOENICIANS: A Dye Jar Gods and Kings • 17

least, that a number of sites in the easternMediterranean were engaged in dyeproduction. Yet, thus far, no conclusiveevidence, such as a dyed fabric or a dyeinginstallation from this period has been foundon Crete or elsewhere in the Aegean.

In the succeeding centuries of the IronAge, the Canaanite city-states on the Levan-tine coast dominated the purple dyeingindustry. Even the names of these peoples-Canaanites and later Phoenicians-verylikely derive from the ancient Semitic andGreek roots for "purple." To promote thisindustry, dye factories were set up atPhoenician colonies-most notably, alongthe coasts of Tunisia, Malta, Sicily, and Spain.

Despite the importance of purple dye-ing, there are few references to it in Phoeni-cian writings. This may indicate a desire toguard secrets about dyeing, or may simplyreflect our very limited knowledge ofPhoenician literature. Biblical texts (Ezekial27:7, 16,24; II Chronicles 2:7, 14) thatincorporate Iron Age traditions are moreinformative about the involvement ofPhoenician city-states, especially Tyre, in theindustry. The use of purple in early Israelitereligion (e.g., in the tabernacle curtains andthe High Priest's vestments: Exodus 26:1,31: 28:4-6; 39:1, 28-29; II Chronicles 3:14)shows considerable Phoenician influence,which was especially strong during the timeof Solomon.

It is only in the time of the earlyRoman Empire that the dyeing process isfirst described. The most authoritativeaccount is in the Historia Naturalis (book IXsections 60-65, chapters XXXVI-XLI) byPliny the Elder, who wrote in the mid-firstcentury A.D. He describes in marvelous

shallower water-especially along rockyshorelines such as that of Lebanon-to matein the late spring. A dog biting into a shellwould certainly come away with a purplemouthful. It is not difficult to imagine thatancient humans would be fascinated by thedye. Once having touched it and strongly col-ored one's hands, its use as a very fast, intensedye would have been soon appreciated.

The Phoenicians played the pre-eminent role in purple dyeing, and this ishighlighted in the archaeological and histori-cal record. Excavations at Sarepta (biblicalZarephath), located midway between Tyre andSidon, have yielded pottery shards coveredwith a purple deposit from a thirteenth-century B.C. context. Chemical analysis of thedeposit verified that it was indeed composedof molluscan purple (6,6' -dibromoindigotin).Moreover, the pottery shards were from stor-age containers of the well-known Canaanitejar type, used to store and transport goodsthroughout the Mediterranean. The jar frag-ments were found near a pile of crushedshells, primarily Murex trunculus. Here, then,was the earliest evidence for large-scale dyeproduction.

Contemporaneous literary evidence,including the Amarna correspondence fromEgypt, the U garitic archives at Ras Shamrain north Syria, and Linear B tablets fromCrete, also indicates that fabrics dyed withpurple were already important commercialitems. Unfortunately, these texts provide noinformation about where the fabrics weredyed. The finding of shell middens on Crete,in particular, which pre-date the Sareptaindustry by as much as 400 years, suggests tosome scholars that the Levantine dyerslearned their craft from the Minoans or, at

religious and political) and wealth. Oneexample of conspicuous display was theTyrian purple sail of Cleopatra's ship at theBattle of Actium in the first century B.C.

One hundred years later, Nero issued anedict that permitted only the emperor towear purple.

The complex extractions and dyeingprocess as described by Pliny has often beenunderstood as a vat process-a chemicalreduction of the dye to a colorless com-pound, in which form it is more easilyabsorbed by textile fibers. Subsequent reoxi-dation by exposure to air yields the coloreddye, which is now wash-fast. This procedurecontrasts with direct application of themolluscan glandular secretions to the textile,followed by color development in the sun.Actual experiments following the recipesand procedures outlined by the Roman

18 + THE ANCIENTS: THEIR KINGDOMS, TRADE, AND POLITICS

..20..e§"o..c:

0..

::i:~"N:t1

AI/tong the remains uncovered in the excavation of Ashdod, once a powerful Phoenician city, was a Hellenistic installation for extractino

purple dye from /IIurex.

detail how the mollusks were captured usingbaited wicker baskets; how the best time tocapture the animals was after the rising ofthe dog-star, Sirius (possibly a veiled refer-ence to the legendary dog?); how the glandwas extracted and the extracts heated for tendays in a large tin vat with added salt andwater, during which refuse organic materialswere periodically skimmed off the surface,and the liquid tested for its dyeing proper-ties; how double-dipping the wool was ableto produce the "Tyrian color," and so forth.Considering the wealth of detail in Pliny'saccount, he most likely observed the processfirst-hand.

The purple was difficult to produce, andthousands of mollusks were needed to makean ounce of the dye, which was worth morethan its weight in gold. It is no wonder thenthat purple became a mark of status (both

THE PHOENICIANS:A DyeJor Gods and Kings· 19

writer substantiate vat dyeing in this period.We do not know how early the vat processfor purple dying was used. That the Sareptadyeing facility was located in the midst of alarge group of pottery kilns may not simplybe coincidence or the result of an attempt toconsolidate polluting industries-we knowfrom classical writers that the purple dyingcreated a horrendous stench. Rather, thekilns could have supplied heat to aid in theextraction process and the true vat-dyeing ofthe textiles.

Following the Islamic conquest of theMiddle East in the early seventh centuryA.D., purple dying along the Levantine coastwas greatly curtailed, not least because of theincreasing availability of less expensive sub-stitutes. Production of the molluscan dyeceased altogether after the fall of Constan-tinople in A.D. 1453. Eleven years later, PopePaul II issued an edict instructing cardinalsto substitute kermes, an insect-derived scar-let dye, for the royal purple the church hadbeen using to dye its vestments.