Tyrian purple

E164372

Tyrian purple is a famous ancient royal purple dye, historically prized for its vivid color and rarity, originally produced from sea snails along the Phoenician coast.

All labels observed (6)

Label Occurrences
Tyrian purple canonical 3
Henna 1
Phoenician purple 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (52)

Predicate Object
instanceOf cultural artifact ⓘ
dye ⓘ
historical material ⓘ
purple dye ⓘ
alsoKnownAs Phoenician purple ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple

Tyrian red ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple

imperial purple ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple

porphyra ⓘ
royal purple ⓘ
associatedWith high social status ⓘ
imperial power ⓘ
royalty ⓘ
wealth ⓘ
chemicalName 6,6′-dibromoindigo ⓘ
color purple ⓘ
colorRange deep violet ⓘ
reddish purple ⓘ
declineReason collapse of large-scale snail harvesting ⓘ
rise of cheaper synthetic dyes ⓘ
developedBy Phoenicians ⓘ
historicallyUsedBy ancient Greeks ⓘ
ancient Phoenicians ⓘ
ancient Romans ⓘ
lightfastness high ⓘ
mainColorant 6,6′-dibromoindigo ⓘ
modernStatus reconstructed in modern chemical and archaeological research ⓘ
namedAfter Tyre ⓘ
odor strong and unpleasant during production ⓘ
originatedIn Phoenicia ⓘ
producedFrom Bolinus brandaris ⓘ
Murex brandaris ⓘ
Murex trunculus ⓘ
linked to: Murex brandaris

sea snails ⓘ
productionMethod extraction from hypobranchial gland of sea snails ⓘ
sunlight oxidation of snail secretion ⓘ
rarity very rare in antiquity ⓘ
regionOfProduction Levantine coast ⓘ
linked to: Syrian coast

eastern Mediterranean ⓘ
regulatedBy sumptuary laws in the Roman Empire ⓘ
restrictedTo Roman emperors ⓘ
high-ranking Roman officials ⓘ
symbolized divine favor ⓘ
royal authority ⓘ
timePeriodOfPeakUse Roman Empire ⓘ
classical antiquity ⓘ
usedFor dyeing silk ⓘ
dyeing textiles ⓘ
dyeing wool ⓘ
imperial robes ⓘ
senatorial togas ⓘ
value extremely valuable in antiquity ⓘ
washfastness high ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (8)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Tyre → knownFor → Tyrian purple ⓘ
Enna → ancientName → Henna ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple → alsoKnownAs → imperial purple ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple → alsoKnownAs → Phoenician purple ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple
Tyrian purple → alsoKnownAs → Tyrian red ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple
Kingdom of Tyre → notableFor → Tyrian purple dye ⓘ
linked to: Tyrian purple
Kingdom of Tyre → product → Tyrian purple ⓘ
Bolinus brandaris → associatedWith → Tyrian purple ⓘ