Henk
Did the urine degrade to ammonia in the hot sun, raising the pH and changing the color?  Is a high pH necessary to 'set' the color so it won't wash out?
Allen Aigen

---------- mienis <[log in to unmask]> writes:

Two reasons are given why the Phoenicians moved their Purple dye production from place to place all around the Mediterranean basin:
a. depletion of the local "Murex" populations;
b. the enormous stench of the "mountains" of used "Murex" shells.
In Lebanon "mountains" have been found of "Murex" shells with a length of 20 m, a width of 10 m and a height of 7-8 m. Inmagine the stench produced by such an amount of foul-smelling snails in an area with a Mediterranean climate.
There is still another less known "secret" of purple-dyeing: the best colours were obtained when the dye and the wool was mixed with human urine! Sorry, but it's true.

Henk K. Mienis

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----- Original Message -----
  From: Kay Peterson
  To: [log in to unmask]
  Sent: Saturday, February 08, 2003 3:26 AM
  Subject: Re: Tyrian purple


  Another shell, the Purpura, has also been used to dye cloth. My father, who collected in Mexico during WW2, said that that dye stunk to high heaven.  (And he collected and cleaned many shells in his day without complaining about odor.)  I noticed that no one in today's discussion has mentioned the smell of these dyes.  Is it possible that Tyrian purple and related dyes do not have an offensive odor?

  Kay


Allen Aigen
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