Murex neomagensis Fontannes, 1879 (dubious synonym).Murex fasciatus Risso, 1826 (invalid: junior homonym of Murex fasciatus Gmelin, 1791).Murex falcatus Sandri & Danilo, 1856 (invalid: junior homonym of Murex falcatus G.B.Murex coronatus Monterosato in Franceschini, 1906.Murex armigerus Settepassi, 1970 (not available, published in a work which does not consistently use binomial nomenclature (ICZN art. Hexaplex (Trunculariopsis) trunculus (Linnaeus, 1758).That is where the phrase, Born in the Purple, came from. The Emperors of Byzantium actually enforced a law that nobody, unless they were royalty, could wear the Tyrian purple. It took about 12,000 snails to make 1.4 grams of the dye.

This dye was actually worth its weight in silver. Tyrian purple was so expensive only kings could afford it. The color of the clothing back in Phoenician time was priced depending on what color it was.

Now, everyone is allowed to wear the color purple. When the purple is in the sunlight it actually gets darker instead of fading into a lighter color. In the third century only women were allowed to wear purple and also the high status people. It was called Tyrian purple because the main region for it to be made was in the city of Tyre. In the fifth century only emperors were allowed to wear the Tyrian purple, the death penalty was given if anyone else wore it.

Julius Ceasar and his wife, Cleopatra, used the color to decorate their furniture in their house. The Phoenicians used purple because it was the royal color in Ancient Roman Empire. The murex usually ended up decaying, which meant a gross stench would fill the area.Then they would mix it with a reddish dye that was collected from a buccinum shellfish. They mixed it with salt and heated it so the water would dissolve out of it. When the murex were pulled from their shells, a pigment from their vein was collect to help make the dye. They caught it in the ocean using frogs and mussels as bait. The Phoenicians used a sea creature, a murex, to help create the purple dye. How did the Phoenicians make the purple dye and why purple?

Download phoenician murex shell