More importantly, it was worth more than its weight in gold. The dye produced a striking color, ranging from lush purple to deep crimson, and would not fade in the sunlight. A great deal of these shellfish would have to be obtained – “Twelve thousand snails of Murex brandaris yield no more than 1.4 grams of pure dye, enough to color only the trim of single garment” (Jacoby quoted in Little Art Talks, 2015). The Buccinum species lived on the rocks of relatively shallow water while the bigger Murex lived in deep water and had to be dredged up from as low as 25 fathoms.

The two shellfish that produced the color (the Purpura pelagia or Murex trunculus and Murex brandaris as well as the Purfura lapillus or Buccinum lapillus ) were native to the eastern Mediterranean shores of the Phoenician empire, in what is modern day Lebanon. Tyrian purple dye was made by the Phoenicians, particularly those of Carthage. The vibrant color could only be made from a dye extracted from shellfish and was incredibly difficult to manufacture. The classic example of a sumptuary law is the ancient Roman prohibition on wearing clothing that was Tyrian purple. Laws that regulate consumption have been passed throughout human civilization and continue to exist in the modern world (even in the United States). Sumptuary laws were also passed by religious institutions in order to prevent temptation and ensure moral behavior. These laws forbade ordinary citizens from obtaining food, clothing, or goods made of a particular material in order to reinforce social hierarchies. In previous eras, however, consumption could be directly regulated through the passage of sumptuary laws. Today, this is done through marketing and price setting (a prominent example is the strict control of the number of diamonds allowed to enter the global market). Throughout history, the rich and powerful have attempted to control access to items considered luxurious or status symbols.

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