Phoenicians from Tyre set down the foundations of what would become the Carthaginian empire on the Tunisian coasts.Īlso known as Tyrian purple, the pigment is still highly valued today and is produced by just a handful of people around the world. The only clues for unearthing the techniques lie in archaeological sites and artefacts in the Mediterranean, particularly in Tyre in southern Lebanon, and Meninx, on the coast of Tunisia's Djerba island. 'Maybe because the artisans did not want to divulge the secrets of their know-how, or they were afraid to because the production of purple was directly associated with the emperors, who tolerated no rivalry,' he said. No historical documents clearly detail the production methods for the purple pigment, Drine said. 'Experts in dyeing, archaeology and history, as well as chemistry, helped and encouraged me, but nobody knew the technique,' Nouira said.

To obtain one gramme of pure purple dye, Nouira said he had to shell 100 kilogrammes of murex

He bought more shells from local fishermen and set out experimenting in an old outside kitchen at his father's house that he still uses as a workshop. In August 2007 on a Tunisian beach, Nouira found a shell releasing a purplish red colour, reminding him of something he'd learnt in history class at school. The industry was 'under the control of the emperors because it brought a lot of money to the imperial coffers', he said. Production of the dye was among the main sources of wealth for the ancient Phoenicians, and then for the Carthaginian and Roman empires, said Ali Drine, who heads the research division of Tunisia's National Heritage Institute.

What happens next is part of a secret guarded so closely that it disappeared hundreds of years ago.Ī symbol of power and prestige, the celebrated purple colour was traditionally used for royal and imperial robes. Now, after years of trial and error-and after getting used to the foul stench-he uses a hammer and small stone mortar to carefully break open the spiny murex shells. 'I would crush the whole shell and try to understand how this small marine animal released such a precious colour.' 'At the beginning, I didn't know where to start,' said Mohamed Ghassen Nouira, who heads a consulting firm.

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