Tyrian purple
Murex snail pigment
Tyrian purple is a reddish-purple dye historically extracted from sea snails, particularly murex species.
In antiquity, producing the dye required thousands of mollusks, making it extraordinarily expensive—reserved for royalty and the wealthy.
The color became synonymous with imperial power and high status: robes of Tyrian purple.
Named for the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre.
- violetSmall five-petaled wildflower
- heliotropeSun-tracking fragrant plant
- amethystPurple semiprecious quartz
- irisEye's pigmented disc
- murexSpiny marine gastropod genus
sea snail · eggplant · royalty · Phoenicia · luxury goods · worth its weight · gastropods · shellfish · ceremonial garments · natural dyes · hyacinth · cloth · chemical synthesis · mollusks · crimson · precious · nobility · imperial
- paint colorsred, yellow, blue, green, orange
- trade goodsgoods, oil, silk, commodities, crude oil
- color historynatural dyes, ochre, indigo, madder, cochineal
- colorantsdye, dyes, pigment, pigments, tint
- dyesdye, madder, synthetic dye, woad, natural dyes
- historic pigmentsochre, vermilion, ultramarine, indigo, madder
color spectrum
Tyrian purpleyellow
Hue between green and orange
chartreuse · gold · lime green · amber · lemon yellow