Purple’s gentry status stems from the uniqueness and cost of the dye originally used to produce it. The purple dye was originally sourced from the Phoenician trading city of Tyre, which is now located in modern-day Lebanon. Fabric traders got the dye from a small sea snail that could only be found in the Mediterranean area of Tyre. More than 10,000 snails were used to make the dye, which took a lot of time and effort. The traders of fabrics aquired the dye from a small sea snail that was only found in the Tyre region of the Mediterranean. The dye was made with a lot of effort and it took over 10,000 snails to make only one gram of Tyrean purple. Since only wealthy rulers could afford to buy and wear the color, it became associated with Rome’s, Egypt’s, and Persia’s imperial classes.
Via newsgram.com
