Fascinating (and refreshing diversion).
Posted on 05/04/2024 8:52:06 AM PDT by logi_cal869
A rare dye made from snails for the robes of the Roman elite almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed at a cricket club.
The chunk of Tyrian purple, roughly the size of a ping pong ball, was dug up at Carlisle Cricket Club as part of ongoing yearly excavations.
A Roman bathhouse was discovered at the site in 2017 and in the last three years 2,000 items including pottery, weapons, coins and semi-precious stones have been found.
Lead archaeologist Frank Giecco said the find was of "international significance" and the first time the precious pigment had been discovered in the UK.
Carlisle Cricket Club dig Excavations at the site, discovered in 2017, have unearthed weapons, pottery and signet ring gems Mr Giecco said the pigment was worth more than gold and would have been used to dye the clothes of figures in the imperial court and the "highest echelons" of society.
He said it was made from the glands of marine snail and about 12,000 were needed to obtain less than 2g of pigment.
"The collection of the snails and processing of the glands would have been very time-consuming, " Mr Giecco said, adding: "Hence the reason it is so expensive.
"It was used in ancient Greek and Roman wall paintings, as well as used as a dye in textiles."
The dye, which was mixed with beeswax to preserve it, was discovered at the site in October.
However, it has taken several months of chemical analysis to verify that it is purple Tyrian.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Fascinating (and refreshing diversion).
ping
OK, now I’m impressed.
**OK, now I’m impressed.**
Me too. I had no idea that crickets have clubs, and have snail on the menu there.
LOL.
Irony: I’d turned on Airport ‘75 this morning in the background - mid way when I saw the article - and the theme color of the interior of the plane is...purple.
Buddy had a 1970 Road Runner that exact same color.
I've often wondered why anyone would want to dye a snail. ;^) By the time the capital was moved to Constantinople, the royal association with purple was already old. One of the Byzantine emperors had porphyry quarried at Mons Porphyrites in Egypt and had a birthing room built, so that heirs would be born 'in the purple'.
(John 19:1-5) Then Pilate took Jesus and flogged him. 2 And the soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head and arrayed him in a purple robe. 3 They came up to him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!” and struck him with their hands. 4 Pilate went out again and said to them, “See, I am bringing him out to you that you may know that I find no guilt in him.” 5 So Jesus came out, wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe. Pilate said to them, “Behold the man!”
“In Phoenician mythology, the discovery of purple was credited to the pet dog of Tyros, the mistress of Tyre’s patron god Melqart. One day, while walking along the beach the couple noticed that after biting on a washed up mollusc the dog’s mouth was stained purple. Tyros asked for a garment made of the same colour and so began the famous dyeing industry”.
https://www.worldhistory.org/Tyrian_Purple/
One of those used to run around my home town when I was a young teen (all stock, iirc). I later saw it at HS, but never knew who owned it.
I'd forgotten all about it until I saw your comment. Gorgeous, but the color never grew on me (I preferred a deep blue...and the '69 Chevelle).
Pity the poor artisan who very quickly discovered how many snails it would take to fulfill the request.
Hopefully he was later enriched by the demands of the elite (rather than enslaved).
It immediately reminded me of the ongoing search by some scholars in Israel for the Tekhelet color used for the ancient High Priest's robes.
It was also supposed to be from a sea creature.
And then there’s a kind of religious dispute. One side holds tekhelet won’t be reinstated until the Messianic Age, with the other holding that rediscovery of tekhelet is herald of the beginning of the Messianic Age.
Just so.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
