Born To The Purple Trivia Quiz

Answer: Dye-making center

Tyre, located in modern day Lebanon, is considered to be one of the oldest continually inhabited cities in the world. Archaeological evidence suggests that the site, estimated to be over 4700 years old, was founded by the Phoenicians in 2750 BC. Historians believe that the city was originally founded as a colony of the nearby Phoenician city-state of Sidon, but rose to power due to its importance as a trading port for many types of goods, including purple dye, which is thought to have been first produced some time around 1570 BC.

Answer: Dye-making center

Qart-Hadasht, which the Romans called Carthage, was not one of the original Phoenician city-states; it was a colony of Tyre that was founded about 814 BC. Within five hundred years Carthage controlled much of the Mediterranean due to the wealth generated by its fertile land, control of the trade routes, and manufacturing of purple dye.

Of course, you remember that Carthage became the main adversary of the Romans during the Punic Wars in 264 BC for control of the Mediterranean Sea. The city was so strong that it took three wars from 264 BC-146 BC before it fell to the Romans.

Answer: Dye-making center

Gadir, now known as Cadiz, was originally founded as a Phoenician colony in Spain by the city of Tyre. In fact, it is considered to be the oldest continuously inhabited city in Western Europe. Already located near tin, silver, and gold mines, that fact that "Bolinus brandaris", one of the species of shellfish used to make the famous purple dye, could be found in the area was just an added bonus.

Answer: Dye-making center

The Phoenicians tried to keep their method for making purple dye a secret, but as time passed, other people, including the ancient Greeks and Romans learned the process for making the dye. As the successor to the power of the western Roman empire, Constantinople, the city built by the Emperor Constantine that became the capital of the Byzantine Empire, preserved much of the knowledge of the western empire, including the making of the purple dye.

Sources disagree exactly when the knowledge for making purple dye was lost - either 1204 when the city was ravaged by soldiers during the Fourth Crusade, or when Constantinople fell to the Ottoman Empire in 1453. At some point the secret of making purple dye using the Phoenician method was lost until modern scientists became interested in its reconstruction. The cloth shown in the picture (c. 814 AD) is believed to have been part of Emperor Charlemagne's burial shroud. Produced in Constantinople, it was colored with Phoenician dye and decorated with gold thread.

Answer: Descriptor

The number of snails that it took, plus the careful timing required at every stage of the process, made the making of purple dye an extremely tedious process. Archaeological evidence suggests that at many of the sites the sea snail was killed in the process of taking its mucus. That meant that each individual shell had to be cracked by hand before the animal's hypobranchial gland, which produced the secretion, could be harvested.

Answer: Descriptor

Archaeologists have discovered areas where it appears that the snails were collected and left to decompose in a vat. Modern scientists have suggested that it took an estimated 12,000 snails to produce .0494 ounces (1.4 g) of the precious dye, and that was just enough to color the trim of a robe. That's a lot of rotting taking place! It is unsurprising that most of the ancient production centers have been found outside city walls in a places that were downwind. Sources also suggest that the fetid odor never left the people who worked in this industry. Apparently, however, the ancients equated the smell, much like the smell of rotten fish, to the smell of money.

Answer: Descriptor

One historian wrote that the purple dye was exchanged for its weight in silver. Another said that by the first century AD it took about half of a soldier's annual paycheck to purchase a pound of the valuable purple dye. Not to worry, though! In a few years they wouldn't be allowed to wear it anyway!

In 301 AD a pound of the purple dye cost about three troy pounds of gold, an estimated $66,000 by current monetary standards. Modern scientists calculate that just the production of one gram using the old method would cost $3,000 in today's market.

Answer: Descriptor

Whether the removal of the gland that produced the drop of mucus used for making the dye was done by hand, or the sea snail was made to secrete the mucus by poking, the first step of the process was very labor intensive. And then there were other equally tiresome steps to follow.

It was an extremely repetitive process, and every subsequent step had to be performed at exactly the right time.

Answer: People who wore purple

Theodora made the list of people who wore purple because she so obviously enjoyed wearing it. Coming from a very humble background, after marrying Emperor Justinian, she became so accustomed to wearing the color that, when he contemplated leaving Constantinople after a rebellion erupted, she pleaded with him not to, saying, "May I never be deprived of this purple robe, and may I never see the day when those who meet me do not call me Empress. If you wish to save yourself, my lord, there is no difficulty....As for me, I agree with the adage, that "royal purple" is the noblest shroud".

Justinian decided not to leave, successfully ended the revolt, and continued wearing the purple too.

Answer: People who wore purple

Ancient historians wrote that Cyrus the Great (c.600 BC-530 BC), founder of the Persian Empire, wore a purple tunic, and some sources credit him with popularizing the practice. He did not, however, allow commoners to wear the color. Only royals, and, more specifically, he himself, could wear it.

After conquering the Persians more than 200 years later, Alexander the Great adopted the custom and wore the purple color.

Answer: People who wore purple

The Romans incorporated Tyre into their growing empire around 64 BC, but before that, the early kings and Republican officials enjoyed wearing purple as a symbol of their status. There were rules, however, regarding how much purple even a person of status could wear. Senators typically wore a white toga that had a purple border on the edge.

Julius Caesar apparently liked the purple as well, although one would have to wonder if his wearing a solid purple toga contributed to the rumors that he intended to rule Rome as a king. His successor, Augustus, was said to have worn the color in moderation. Later emperors decreed by law that the emperor was the only person allowed to wear the color.

Answer: People who wore purple

The legend is that King Phoenix of Tyre, the brother of the famous Europa who was abducted by Zeus, was the first to wear the purple dyed cloth. Apparently someone had found a dog that was eating a snail shell and thought its mouth was bleeding. After wiping the dog's mouth, it was discovered that the wool that had been used for the task was dyed with a beautiful shade of purple.

When the wool was shown to the king, he wanted the color for himself. Phoenix wore a mantle dyed with the color, and decreed that its use would only be for the royal family.

Answer: Making the purple

Pliny the Elder did record a recipe for the process for making purple dye, which he presumably witnessed first hand. After the mucus was exposed and had reached the right color, salt was added to the mix. He said that 20 sextarius, or fluid ounces, were added to every 100 pounds of mucus.

This, of course, was a fixative for the dye, which was highly prized because it kept its color well, and appeared to age at an even brighter shade.

Answer: Making the purple

The base resource for the purple dye was the mucin, or mucus of the murex snail - yes, you read that right! It was used in nature by the snail to sedate its prey, as an agent that would stop the growth of bacteria on its eggs, and as a excretion when attacked poked or bothered.

There were two ways to collect the mucus - either crush the creature's shell, or milk it from the beast. The later, of course, was the more sustainable way, but apparently seldom used in sites around the Mediterranean.

Answer: Making the purple

The purple dye had to be processed near the area where the beds of sea snails were located, as the freshness of the ingredients was an important factor in determining color. After the mucus was removed, it had to be exposed to the sunlight and carefully observed as it changed color. When the color was right, it was time for the next step.

Answer: Making the purple

Pliny the Elder said that after adding salt, the mucus solution was then boiled in a tin or lead pot until it again reached the desired color. Then there was a sample run of the wool cloth, and if the color was right, more wool would be dyed with it.

He wrote that the cloth remained soaked in the solution for five hours, was taken out and carded (untangled and cleaned), and then soaked again for as long as was needed.

Answer: Naming the purple

While there is evidence to suggest that the Minoans might have been the first to make the precious purple dye, the manufacturing of the dye as the ancient world knew it, began in Tyre. For many years, Tyre was the only city from which one could obtain the valuable dye and cloth, which was highly prized for its ability to keep its original color.

You can see from the example in the cover picture that Tyrian purple was not purple as we imagine it today. It was more of a dark crimson red.

Answer: Naming the purple

The ancient purple dye is also known as imperial purple as it became so popularly used by the ancient Romans in both parts of the empire. And, after the fall of the western empire, the purple dye became the absolute rage of the Byzantine Empire in the east. Again, however, its use was restricted to the imperial family. It was so popular among them that scholars wrote that they even signed official documents in purple ink!

Answer: Naming the purple

From the very beginning, the purple dye was so expensive that only those who were very wealthy - royals, nobles, priests, and scribes - could afford to buy it. Different shades of the color could be produced; one source says the most highly coveted shade was the color of black-tinted clotted blood. That color was apparently produced by dipping the wool twice.

Answer: Naming the purple

This is the name of the organic compound known as 6,6'-Dibromoindigo, a derivative of indigo dye. It was discovered by Paul Friedländer, a German chemist, in 1909.