When the dog bit into a large sea snail, its mouth was stained purple. According to the legend recorded by the Greek scholar Julius Pollux in the 2nd century CE, the dye was discovered by the Phoenician god Melqart while walking along the seashore with his dog and the nymph Tyros. Tyrian purple dye was first manufactured by the Phoenicians in the 16th century BCE. Because the materials were smelly, the places where Tyrian purple dye was manufactured were usually located downwind of towns and cities.The pot was heated slowly for about ten days until the mixture turned a reddish-purple color.Next, the glands were extracted and placed in a lead pot filled with brine.

According to the Roman author Pliny the Elder, thousands of snails were needed to produce just one ounce of dye. First, the sea snails had to be harvested.The source of the dye was the mucus produced by predatory sea snails found in the Mediterranean Sea. Tyrian purple dye was so costly because it was difficult to make. In Rome during the 1st century CE, a pound of Tyrian purple dye cost about half a Roman soldier’s annual salary, or the equivalent of the cost of a diamond engagement ring today. The Greeks called this region 'Phoenicia,' a name that is believed to mean 'land of purple.' Purple was an expensive color. The finest purple dye came from the coastal city of Tyre in what is now Lebanon.

Creating Purple Lararium (household shrine) from the House of the Vettii at Pompeii

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