Tyrian purple 150320 220116096 2008-06-18T10:33:33Z DOI bot 6652755 Citation maintenance. Initiated by [[User:|]]. You can [[WP:DOI|use this bot]] yourself! Please [[User:DOI_bot/bugs|report any bugs]]. [[Image:Murex sp.jpg|thumb|200px|right|''[[Murex brandaris]]'', also known as the Spiny dye-murex]] <!-- Image with disputed fair-use status removed: [[Image:Murex_Trunculus_Shell.gif|thumb|200px|right|''[[Hexaplex trunculus]]'', also known as the banded dye-murex or ''[[Murex trunculus]]''. One of the sources of Tyrian Purple.]] --> [[Image:Tyrian-Purple-2D-skeletal.png|thumb|right|200px|The chemical structure of '''6,6′-dibromoindigo''', the main component of '''Tyrian Purple''']] [[Image:Tyrian-Purple-3D-vdW.png|thumb|right|200px|A [[space-filling model]] of 6,6′-dibromoindigo]] '''Tyrian purple''' ([[Greek language|Greek]]: ''{{polytonic|πορφύρα}}, porphyra'', [[Latin language|Latin]]: ''purpura''), also known as '''royal purple''', '''imperial purple''' or '''imperial dye''', is a purple-red [[dye]] which was first produced by the ancient [[Phoenicia]]ns in the city of [[Tyre, Lebanon|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.<ref>Theopompus, cited by Athenaeus (12:526) around 200 [[Before Christ|BC]]; according to Gulick, Charles Barton 1941. ''Athenaeus, The Deipnosophists.'' Cambridge: Harvard University Press.</ref> 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 (ocean)|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" <ref>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.</ref> In [[Hebrew language|Biblical Hebrew]], which like Phoenician is a dialect of [[Canaanite language|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 (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.<ref name="Benkendorff">{{cite paper |first = Kirsten |last = Benkendorff |title = Bioactive molluscan resources and their conservation: Biological and chemical studies on the egg masses of marine molluscs |publisher = University of Wollongong |date = 1999-03 |url = http://www.library.uow.edu.au/adt-NWU/public/adt-NWU20011204.154039/index.html |format = PDF |accessdate = 2008-02-25 }}</ref><ref>Because of research by Benkendorff et al., the Tyrian purple precursor [[tyrindoleninone]] is being investigated as a potential antimicrobial agent with uses against [[multidrug resistant]] bacteria.</ref> 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. ==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]].<ref>C.Michael Hogan, ''Mogador: Promontory Fort'', The Megalithic Portal, ed. Andy Burnham, Nov 2, 2007 [http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=17926]</ref> 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" <ref>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.</ref> == Historical overview of Tyrian purple == [[Image:Justinian.jpg|thumb|Byzantine Emperor Justinian clad in Tyrian purple, 6th-century mosaic at [[Basilica of San Vitale]], [[Ravenna]], Italy.]] The fast, non-fading dye was an item of luxury trade, prized by [[ancient Rome|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 ''[[Pliny's Natural History|Natural History]]''<ref>Pliny the Elder, ''The Natural History'' (eds. John Bostock, H.T. Riley) Book IX. ''The Natural History of Fishes''. Chapters 60-65. [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0137&query=head%3D%23483]</ref>: {{cquote|... 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, Lebanon|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''. {{Fact|date=August 2007}} 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&ndash;18th century BC.<ref>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).</ref><ref>Stieglitz, Robert R. (1994), "The Minoan Origin of Tyrian Purple," Biblical Archaeologist, 57, 46-54.</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite journal | author = Sachs, F. & Kempf, R. | year = 1903 | title = Über p-Halogen-o-nitrobenzaldehyde. | journal = [[Ber. Dtsch. Chem. Ges.]] | volume = 36 | pages = 3299–3303}}</ref> However, it has never been synthesized commercially.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | year=1981 | title=Indigo | volume=V | pages=338 | encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica | edition=15th | publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc | location=Chicago | id=ISBN 0-85229-378-X}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title = Tyrian purple: 6,6’-Dibromoindigo and Related Compounds |author = Cooksey C. J. |journal = Molecules |volume = 6 |issue = 9 |year= 2001 |pages = 736–769 |url =http://www.mdpi.org/molecules/papers/60900736.pdf}}</ref> == Modern rendition == ===Tyrian purple=== {{Infobox color |textcolor=white| title=Tyrian Purple | hex=66023C| r=102|g=2 |b=60| c= 66|m= 87|y= 0|k= 0| h=324|s= 98|v= 40| spelling=colour| source=[http://www.mmdtkw.org/VPurple.html Internet]}} 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> <br> <span style="background-color:#990024">_________</span> This is the [[sRGB]] colour #990024, intended for viewing on an output device with a [[gamma correction|gamma]] of 2.2. It is a representation of [[Royal Horticultural Society|RHS]] colour code 66A <ref>"RHS, UCL and RGB Colors, gamma = 1.4, fan 2", ''Azalea Society of America website'' [http://www.azaleas.org/index.pl/rhsmacfan2.html] (this gives the RGB value #b80049, which has been converted to #990024 for the sRGB gamma of 2.2)</ref>, which has been equated to "Tyrian red" <ref>Buck, G. ''Buck Rose Website'', Page 5 [http://www.ag.iastate.edu/centers/cad/Eroses.html]</ref>, 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 [[color|colour]]s: <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: 97, 64, 81)<li> <li style = "background-color: #66023C; color: #ffffff"> Tyrian Purple (Imperial Purple) (Hex: #66023C) (RGB: 102, 2, 60)<li> </ul> ==References== [[Image:Tyrian purple on grayscale.jpg|thumb|200px|right|6,6'-dibromoindigo, the major component of Tyrian purple]] {{reflist}} ==See also== * [[Indigo dye]] * [[Purple]] * [[Hexaplex trunculus]] ==External links== <!--===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})=============================== | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. 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