Editing Tyrian purple (section)

==History==
[[File:PM 110511 Liebig Chromos.jpg|thumb|A 20th-century depiction of a [[Roman triumph]] celebrated by [[Julius Caesar]]. Caesar, riding in the chariot, wears the solid Tyrian purple ''[[toga picta]]''. In the foreground, two [[Roman magistrates]] are identified by their ''[[toga praetexta]]'', white with a stripe of Tyrian purple.]]

[[Biological pigment]]s were often difficult to acquire, and the details of their production were kept [[trade secret|secret]] by the manufacturers. Tyrian purple is a pigment made from the [[mucus]] of several species of [[Hexaplex trunculus|murex snail]]. Production of Tyrian purple for use as a [[fabric]] dye began as early as 1200&nbsp;BC by the [[Phoenicia]]ns, and was continued by the [[Greeks]] and [[Byzantine Empire|Romans]] until 1453 AD, with the [[fall of Constantinople]]. In the same way as the modern-day [[Latin alphabet]] of Phoenician origin, Phoenician purple pigment was spread through the unique Phoenician trading empire.<ref name="ruthg">{{cite book |title=Dyes: From Sea Snails to Synthetics |author=Kassinger, Ruth G. |date=6 February 2003 |publisher=21st century |url=https://archive.org/details/dyesfromseasnail0000kass |url-access=registration |isbn=0-7613-2112-8}}</ref> The pigment was expensive and time-consuming to produce, and items colored with it became associated with power and wealth. This popular idea of purple being elite contributes to the modern day widespread belief that purple is a "royal color". The color of textiles from this period provides insight into socio-cultural relationships within ancient societies, in addition to providing insights on technological achievements, fashion, social stratification, agriculture and trade connections.<ref name=NS>{{cite journal |last1=Sukenik |first1=Naama |last2=Iluz |first2=David |last3=Amar |first3=Zohar |last4=Varvak |first4=Alexander |last5=Shamir |first5=Orit |last6=Ben-Yosef |first6=Erez |title=Early evidence of royal purple dyed textile from Timna Valley (Israel) |journal=PLOS ONE |date=28 January 2021 |volume=16 |issue=1 |pages=e0245897 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0245897 |pmid=33507987 |pmc=7842898 |bibcode=2021PLoSO..1645897S |language=en |issn=1932-6203 |doi-access=free}}</ref> Despite their value to archaeological research, textiles are quite rare in the archaeological record. Like any perishable organic material, they are usually subject to rapid decomposition and their preservation over millennia requires exacting conditions to prevent destruction by microorganisms.<ref name=NS/>

Tyrian purple may first have been used by the ancient [[Phoenicia]]ns as early as 1570&nbsp;BC.<ref>McGovern, P. E. and Michel, R. H. "Royal Purple dye: tracing the chemical origins of the industry". ''Analytical Chemistry'' 1985, 57, 1514A–1522A</ref><ref name="StClair">{{Cite book |title=The Secret Lives of Colour |vauthors=St Clair K |publisher=John Murray |year=2016 |isbn=9781473630819 |location=London |pages=162–164 |oclc=936144129}}</ref> It has been suggested that the name Phoenicia itself means 'land of purple'.<ref>{{cite book |author=Cunliffe, Barry |title=Europe between the Oceans: 9000&nbsp;BC – AD&nbsp;1000 |location=New Haven, Connecticut |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2008 |page=241}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.etymonline.com/word/Phoenician |title=Phoenician |website=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> The [[dye]] was greatly prized in antiquity because the color did not easily fade, but instead became brighter with weathering and sunlight. It came in various shades, the most prized being that of black-tinted clotted blood.<ref name=Pigments_WebExhibits>{{cite web |url=https://www.webexhibits.org/causesofcolor/7.html |title=Pigments: Causes of Color |website=WebExhibits.org |access-date=2016-06-10 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><ref name="StClair"/>

Because it was extremely tedious to make, Tyrian purple was expensive: the 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC historian [[Theopompus]] reported, "Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver at [[Colophon (city)|Colophon]]" in [[Asia Minor]].<ref>Theopompus, cited by [[Athenaeus]] (12:526) around 200&nbsp;BC.{{cite book |translator=Gulick, Charles Barton |year=1941 |author=Athenaeus |author-link=Athenaeus |title=The Deipnosophists |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press}}</ref> The expense meant that purple-dyed textiles became [[status symbol]]s, whose use was restricted by [[sumptuary law]]s. The most senior [[Roman magistrate]]s wore a ''[[toga praetexta]]'', a white [[toga]] edged in Tyrian purple. The even more sumptuous ''[[toga picta]]'', solid Tyrian purple with [[gold thread]] edging, was worn by generals celebrating a [[Roman triumph]].<ref name="StClair"/>

By the fourth century AD, sumptuary laws in Rome had been tightened so much that only the [[Roman emperors|Roman emperor]] was permitted to wear Tyrian purple.<ref name="StClair"/> As a result, 'purple' is sometimes used as a [[metonym]] for the office (e.g. the phrase 'donned the purple' means 'became emperor'). The production of Tyrian purple was tightly controlled in the succeeding [[Byzantine Empire]] and subsidized by the imperial court, which restricted its use for the coloring of [[Byzantine silk|imperial silks]].<ref>{{cite book |vauthors=Jacoby D |article=Silk in Western Byzantium before the Fourth Crusade |title=Trade, Commodities, and Shipping in the Medieval Mediterranean |year=1997 |at=pp.&nbsp;455&nbsp;ff and notes&nbsp;[17]–[19]}}</ref> Later (9th&nbsp;century), a child born to a reigning emperor was said to be ''[[porphyrogenitos]]'', "[[born in the purple]]".<ref>{{cite book |article=Porphyrogennetos |title=The Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York and Oxford, UK |year=1991 |page=1701 |isbn=0-195-04652-8}}</ref>

Some{{Who|date=March 2017}} speculate that the dye extracted from the ''[[Bolinus brandaris]]'' is known as {{Transliteration|hbo|argaman}} ({{lang|hbo|ארגמן}}) in [[Biblical Hebrew]]. Another dye extracted from a related sea snail, ''[[Hexaplex trunculus]]'', produced a blue color after light exposure which could be the one known as {{Transliteration|hbo|[[tekhelet]]}} ({{lang|hbo|תְּכֵלֶת}}), used in garments worn for ritual purposes.<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Elsner O |title=Solution of the enigmas of dyeing with Tyrian purple and the Biblical tekhelet |journal=Dyes in History and Archaeology |volume=10 |year=1992 |at=pages&nbsp;14&nbsp;ff}}</ref>