6 Shells as evidence of the Migrations. 
Judging from the associated symbols, particularly 
those of the serpent, palm-tree, “ mundane egg,” -etc., it 
seems to have a greater affinity with serpent and_ phallic 
worship. 
At least two species of AM/urex, and one of Purpura, 
appear to have been employed by the Phoenicians in the 
manufacture of Tyrian purple. Lortet records that in the 
vicinity of Sidon, great banks, a hundred yards long and 
several yards thick, occur composed entirely of broken 
shells of AZurex trunculus,* while at Tyre, according to 
Tristram," large quantities of crushed and broken shells of 
Murex branderis, have been met with. Tyre, which is 
reputed to have produced the best purple in Asia, is 
referred to by Strabo" as unpleasant, as a place of 
residence, owing to the great number of its dyeworks. 
The Tyrian method of dyeing differed slightly from 
that narrated by Pliny, for the dyers merely made a bath 
of the liquid in which the wool to be treated was steeped 
for a certain time. It was then taken out and thrown 
into another boiler, which contained an extract from the 
Buccinum, or Trumpet-fish, only. This process—the 
so-called “ purpurea dibapha”— gave to the stuffs a richer 
and more vivid hue. Wool submitted to this double 
process was so highly esteemed that, in the reign of 
Augustus, each pound sold for one thousand Roman 
denarii, or about thirty-six pounds sterling. We need 
not wonder at this enormous price, considering the tedious 
nature of the process and the smal] amount of dye pro- 
duced from each shell-fish. For fifty pounds of wool, the 
ancients used no less than two hundred pounds of the 
* L. Lortet, ‘* La Syrie d’aujourd’ hui,” Paris, 1583, p. 102. 
> Hi. LG. Tristram, ‘The Land of Israel,” 1882, p. 48. See also Besnier, 
of. il., p. 770, for other references, and the use of rtura Aemastoma, 
1* Strabo, xvi, c. 11, p. 756. 
