Allegedly, 60000 murex were needed to produce one pound of dye. The dye was highly prized in ancient times.
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hexaplex_trunculus
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An ounce of good purple dye would cost many times more than a pound of gold. The Phoenicians had long ago given up their secret of how to make "Tryian Purple", but that didn't lower the cost: it still took more than ten thousand Murex mollusks to make one raw wool toga into a purple "toga picta".
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www.mmdtkw.org/VPurple.html
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The two chief sources for this purple dye are Murex trunculus and Murex brandaris, and the shades of dye produced these sources can range from bright red, to blue, and to deep, almost black, purple.
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www.jolique.com/dyes_colorants/purple_passion.htm
www.jolique.com/dyes_colorants/purple_passion.htm
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The major component of the dye is 6,6'-dibromoindigo. Paul Friedlander was the first to determine the composition of the dye from Murex brandaris in 1909. 6,6'-Dibromoindigo in solution is blue, but when used as a dye on wool the colour is purple.
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www.realcolorwheel.com/murexpurple.htm
www.realcolorwheel.com/murexpurple.htm
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Britannica online encyclopedia article on dye murex (marine snail),
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www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/175023/dye-murex
www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/175023/dye-murex
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The purple dye murex Bolinus brandaris (Linnaeus, 1758) has been reported for the first time from O Grove inlet (Galicia, NW. Spain) in 2007.
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www.aquaticinvasions.ru/2008/AI_2008_3_3_Banon_etal.pdf
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As with all vat dying, the Murex dye solution is yellowish in the vat and its final color can only be determined when the dye oxidizes in the wool. Since the resultant color can range from blue to purple, the dye must be tested to determine if it has been sufficiently exposed to ultraviolet light.
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www.tekhelet.com/criteria.htm
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Among the more unlikely “marriages” in early human technology was one arranged between the Chinese silk moth and the Mediterranean murex sea snail. Three that are common to the eastern Mediterranean were specifically fished for dye: Murex trunculus, Murex brandaris and Thais haemastoma (also called Purpura haemastoma).
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www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/millennia.of.mure...
www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/millennia.of.murex.htm
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