Earlier this year archaeologists unearthed ancient woollen textiles colored in purple. They were found in Israel. The purple dye was made from a sea snail. Long go it was worth more than gold. 

Astonishingly the wool containing the dye dates back to 1000 BC and it still looks vibrant.

The items were discovered near Timna which at that time would have been ruled by the fabled King David.

This rich purple dye was described in the Bible as argaman, and it was the preserve of royals and priests. The discovery was made in Israel’s southern tip though the dye itself comes from the dye glands of murex sea snails which are found on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The site of the find is Slave’s Hill near the Red Sea, so it travelled a considerable distance from where it originated to where it lay for three thousand years.

The dye was highly prized in ancient times because of its glorious shade of purple and its ability not to fade. 

There have also been finds of this exclusive dye going back to 2000BC though these were closer to the Mediterranean where the dye originates.

The colour was known by many names including Tyrian purple, royal purple, Phoenician red, Phoenician purple, imperial dye or my personal favourite imperial purple. 

Roman magistrates wore a white toga edged with a stripe of Tyrian purple. Roman generals celebrating a triumph wore solid Tyrian purple with a gold stripe.

Eventually only the Roman emperor were allowed to wear Tyrian purple. 

The next time you wear a purple scarf or dress or tie or even a suit, consider the richness of the colour, its history and its very royal associations and enjoy!

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