6 JACKSON, Distribution of the Shell-Purple Industry. 



the purple-trade of Tyre is doubtful, though this has been 

 suggested by leading authorities. 



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 Murex, 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 Murex trunculusf while at Tyre, according to 

 Tristram, 9 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 10 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 small amount of dye pro- 

 duced from each shell-fish. For fifty pounds of wool, the 



* L. Lortet, " La Syrie d'aujourd'hui," Paris, 1883, p. 102. 



9 H. B. Tristram, " The Land of Israel," 1882, p. 48. See also Besnier, 

 op. cit., p. 770, for other references, and the use of Purpura hecmastoma. 



10 Strabo, xvi., c. II, p. 756. 



