12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Krikor Tersakian

Select Language Powered by Translate

Home

Dec 28, 2010 Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

E-mail contact (please indicate your e-mail adress in message)

Subscribe / Follow this website / !"#$%$&'()*+,'-

Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Members (36) More »

Already a member? Sign in

Dye Murex, Trunculariopsis (Murex) trunculus can be frequently seen on the muddy-rocky and/or algae WebSite visitors from around our covered intertidal-sub-tidal zones of the Mediterranean - Aegean system. A gland situated under the gills secretes small World: a mucous liquid which may produce yellow, green, blue, red or the famous "royal purple" colors of the ancient Mediterranean peoples, according to the method used. (Photo credit: Mehmet Atatur http://www.treknature.com

For Kings only: the Tyrian Purple The Emperors of Byzantium made a law forbidding anybody from using Tyrian Purple except themselves. The

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 1/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre expression ‘born in the purple’ rose from this practice. But what is the amazing story behind these prohibitively expensive and legendary dyes today costing over 3 Million US$ a liter?

Three thousand years ago the Phoenicians controlled trade in purple dyed silks. The gland of the sea-snail Murex trunculus secretes a yellow fluid that, when exposed to sunlight, turns purple-blue. A similar dye, the Tyrian Purple was made from the Murex brandaris yielding purple red colors. Both dyes were extremely expensive.

Ancient Phoenicia is renowned to have given the world the first phonetic (non syllable) based alphabet, a Mediterranean mercantile tradition with colonies like Carthage, and flourishing civilization the ancient Greeks owed a lot to. One lesser known contribution of the ancient "Lebanese" is the Purple Dye which came to be known as the Imperial Purple, that the Phoenicians of the city state Tyre extracted from the sea snail mollusks called Murex".The word 'purple' comes from the Old English purpul which originates from the Latin purpura. This in turn is derived from the Koine Greek !"#$%#& (porphyra), name of the Tyrian purple dye manufactured in classical antiquity from a mucus secreted by the spiny dye-murex snail such as Murex trunculus and Murex brandaris. This extremely expensive dye was prized since ancient times and by the time of the Romans, the noblemen had already used it to color ceremonial robes and that became a royal "tradition" around the world. The most unusual aspect of Tyrian purple is the extracted color itself and its variations. In solution, the snail secretion color is blue but as a dye in the solid state it is purple. Just in case you just have to touch up an original Roman textile you can get genuine Tyrian purple dyes for $3,900 a gram or more than $3,000,000 a liter (2)!

About me

Silk and Murex Dye: Krikor Tersakian Among the more unlikely “marriages” arranged by human ingenuity is the one between the Chinese domesticated Montreal, Quebec, silk moth, Bombyx mori, and the Mediterranean sea snails Murex. The Murex dye, when brought together with Canada silk, led to the world’s longest-lasting fashion statement.This fragment from an 11th-century Byzantine robe I have an obsessive shows griffins embroidered on a delicate silk woven of murex-dyed threads. (6). Sion Switzerland, Église de Valère, interest in Humanities and History. The Riggisberg (Philippa Scott, Saudi Aramco World) complex and intricate interrelation of all these fields fascinates me. The Harvesting The Tyrian Purple Murex: creative genius of humans along with The mollusks needed by the Phoenicians were obtained with great difficulty. The Mediterranean sea has no tides the good and not-so-good instincts and therefore does not uncover its shores at low water like the oceans. The mollusks prefer tolerably deep water puzzle me and leave me amazed and and to procure them in any quantity it was necessary that they should be fished up from a certain depth: A long a bit worried about our future.I am a rope was let down into the sea, with baskets of reeds or rushes attached to it at intervals, constructed like lobster- career Agricultural Engineer and traps baskets, with an opening that yielded easily to pressure from the outside, but resisted pressure from the History Major (Honor, Concordia University, Montreal). Contact: inside, and made escape, when once the trap was entered, impossible. The baskets were baited with mussels or [email protected] frogs, both of which had great attractions for the Murex /Purpuræ/, and were seized and devoured with avidity. At the upper end of the rope was attached to a large piece of cork, which, even when the baskets were full, could not View my complete profile be drawn under water. It was usual to set the traps in the evening,and after waiting a night, or sometimes a night and a day, to draw them up to the surface, when they were generally found to be full of the coveted Murex. (3).The snails were collected in large vats and left to decompose. Member, Golden Key Intl. Honour Not much is known about the subsequent steps, and the actual ancient method for mass-producing the two murex Society - Academics dyes has not yet been successfully reconstructed; this special “blackish clotted blood” colour, which was prized above all others, is believed to be achieved by double-dipping the cloth, once in the indigo dye of H. trunculus and once in the purple-red dye of M. brandaris (5). The Phoenicians established also a production facilities outside their traditional Lebanese shores, such as the one at Iles Purpuraires at Mogador, in Morocco.

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 2/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Blog Archive

! 2011 (4) Murex Purple dye and closely associated "royal" colors, so difficult to get in ancient times. There has been much speculation as to the precise colour the process actually produced by the Murex. Because of many variables " 2010 (5) in the process, Murex didn't produce any one colour. Sometimes the colour was the same as the flower “violets”, " December (1) sometimes very similar to fuchsia. But garments of Tyrian Purple were supposedly produced by double-dyeing the Murex: The Imperial fabric, which gave a darker colour. Consequently, the colour produced in that process wasn't “purple” as we Purple Dye of Tyre understand purple but a dark crimson or even maroon (8). ! September (1) Worth its Weight in Diamond ! May (1) ! March (1) ! January (1) It is believed that it generally takes 12,000 snails to produce just 1.4 grams of this dye. Because of this, it was so expensive, that the historian Theopompus reported that,“Purple for dyes fetched its weight in silver”. Yet, there ! 2009 (19) was a craze for this dye as a status symbol. In fact the Emperors of Byzantium made a law forbidding anybody from using it except themselves. The expression ‘born in the purple’ rose from this practice.

Dyes ancient, Dyes modern

Until modern times, all dyes were made in a similar manner, from animal sources and more often, plant sources. For example, cochineal (which gives a crimson colour) was made from the scale insect Kermes vermilio. To make one pound of dye, 70,000 insect bodies were boiled, dried, powdered and boiled again in ammonia. The red dye was then extracted by filtration and precipitation by alum. Indigo was extracted from leaves of the indigo plant (Indigofera tinctoria). In 1909, Paul Friedländer discovered the chemical structure of Tyrian Purple (now called 6,6-dibromoindigo) and by then, the nature of the dye industry had completely changed. New dyes were now being made from the by-products of coal extraction. The first of these was mauve, synthesized by the British chemist William Henry Perkin from coal tar in 1856. As these dyes were cheaper and offered a wider range of colors, the need for natural dyes disappeared. And that’s why the clothes we buy today and no longer priced on the basis of colour! (1)

"Born in the Purple": Aristocracy and Power Selected recent Comments / Post a comment

Comments

There are no comments posted yet. Be the first one! Post a new comment

Enter text right here!

Comment as a Guest, or login:

facebook

Name Email Website Born in Purple: Byzantium Emperor Justinian I dressed in a robe dyed with Tyrian Purple. Interestingly, unlike (optional) other dyes that faded in sunlight, Tyrian purple would become darker.

Displayed next to Not displayed If you have a your comments. publicly. website, link to it here. Imperial Subscribe to Submit Comment Purple: None From

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 3/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Search by LABELS / !"#$"#%&$# '(&)*"

Abdulaziz (1) AbdulHamid (1) Abkhazia (1) Acropolis (1) Ahmanedijad (1) Akoya (1) Al Sabah (1) Ali (1) alphabet (1) Anabaptist (1) Anadolu Kavagi (1) Antrim (1) Appropriation (1) Aqaba (1) Arabian Gulf (1) Aram (1) Arianism (1) Armenia (4) Armenian (3) armenian church (1) Armenian Genocide (1) ashura (1) Assyrian (1) Athenagoras (1) Athens Constantine: until the half of Fifthcentury, the emperors were buried in immense red porphyry sarcophagi . (1) Avebury (1) Azov (1) Bachir Gemayel (2) Marcian (450-457) was the last to be honored with such a burial. For many emperors this stone was the first thing Bachir. Bashir (1) Badarak (1) Baghdad (1) they saw, and the prestigious title “Porphyry Born” common within the emperors of Constantinople, meant they Bahrain (1) Balkan (1) Basj (1) Battle of Sinop (1) saw the light in the magnificent room called “born in the purple room”. It was a squared room of the Imperial Beijing (1) Belfast (2) Belfast Impressions (2) Belfast Murals (1) Beyoglu (1) bible (1) Biran Palace, roofed with a pyramid, all covered with red porphyry, where the empress gave birth to the imperial heirs. (1) Bizye (1) Black sea (2) Bloody Sunday (1) (Photo credit: http://dragons-intl.com) Blue mosque (1) Bobby sands (1) Bombay street carnage (1) British Museum (1) British rule (1) Byblos (1) Byzantium (1) Caliphate (1) Calvinist (1) Cappadocia (1) carnac (1) Carthage (1) Castro (1) Caucasus (1) Cerkezkoy (1) Chalcedon (2) chamoun (1) China (1) Chouf (1) civil war (1) Conchiolin (1) Consranta (1) Constantine (1) Cosmopolitan (1) Costantinople (1) Crimean war (1) Cromwell (2) Crystal night (1) Cuba (1) D'Arcy McGee (1) Dead Sea (1) Deconstructivist (1) Demirkoy (1) Democracy (1) Demographics (1) Devsirme (1) dictator (1) Dirty Protest (1) Dowd (1) Dreidger (1) Drogheda (1) Druze (2) Dublin (1) dye (1) Echmiatsin (1) Ecumenical patriarchate (1) Edirnekapi (1) ehden (1) Elgin marbles (1) Epidemics (1) Faith (1) Falls Road (1) Famine (2) Fanfare (1) Fatih (1) Fener (2) Fenian (1) Fertilizers (1) fisk (1) Food shortage (1) franjieh (1) Gacazzi (1) Galilea (1) Gallipoli (1) Gamk (1) Garni (1) Gazi (1) geagea (1) Georgia (2) Gerry Adams (2) Giant's Causeway (1) Golden Mile (1) Good Friday (1) Gorge (1) Great Britain (1) Greece (1) Greek alphabet (1) Greek catholic (1) Greek Orthodox (2) Griffintown (1) Grosse ile (1) H- Block (1) Haghia Nicholas (1) Haghia Sofya (1) Haghpat (1) Halki (1) Hardini (1) Harem (1) Hassan (1) Hellenistic (1) Heresy (1) Hexagones (1) Heybeliada (1) Homenetmen (1) Homenetmen Canada (1) Homenetmen Gamk (1) Huguenots (1) The Imperial Purple tie of Prince William is surely not a random choice, nor the robe of the Pope Benedict XVI. Human population (1) Hunger (1) Hunger Strike Traditions continue, even if they go unnoticed by the general public. Here, William in an official photo with bride-to- (1) Huntingdon (1) Hussein (1) Ian Paisley (1) Illuminator (1) Imam (1) imperial purple (1) Indigo be Kate Middleton at Buckingham Palace, 2010. http://www.celebitchy.com. (1) Ingres (1) Intolerance (1) Irak (1) Iran (2)

Iraq (1) irish conflict (1) Irish History (1) Irrigation (1) Islam (2) Islam minority (1) Israel (1) Istambul riots (1) Istanbul (4) Istiklal (1) Istranca (1) Jahra (1) Janissary (1) Japan (1) Javakhk (1) Jesus (1) jewelery (1) Jews (1) Jordan River (1) Kalkan (1) Kamak Jumblatt (1) Karadeniz (2) Karahunge (1) Kariye (2) Karni (1) Kataeb (2) Keghart (3) Kerbalah (1) King James (1) Kiyikoy (1) Knox (1) Krikor Tersakian (2) Kristallnacht (1) Kufa (1) Kul (1) Kuwait (1) Lachine canal (1) lava (1) Lebanese forces (1) Lebanon (4) Lebensraum (1) Liturgy Armenian (1) Locke (1) LondonDerry (1) Looting (1) Lord Elgin (1) Lord Protector (1) Loyalist (1) Mahdi (1) Malthus (1) Mar Maroun (1) Marada (1) Marmara (1) Maronite (1) Martin Luther (1) Maze (1) Megalith (1) Mehter (1) Menderes (1) Mer Hayrenik (1) Midye (1) mihrab (1) Mikimoto (1) Mollusk (1) Monsanto (1) Montreal (2) Montreux treaty (1) mosaics (1) mosque (1) Mother of pearl (1) Mount Lebanon (1) Moutafian (1) Murex (1) Muslim (1) Nabateans (1) Najaf (1) Nareg (1) Nicaea (2) Nike (1) Northern Ireland (2) Northern Ireland conflict (1) Orange order (1) Ormond (1) Orthodox (1) Ottoman (3) Paisley (1) Palestinians (1) Pammakaristos (1) papyrus (1) parliament (1) parnell (1) Parthenon (1) Patriarch (1) Pearls (1) Pera (1) persian (1) Petra (1) phalange (1) Phanar (1) Philippines (1) Phoenecia (1) Podima (1) Pogrom (1) Potash (1) Poti (2) Poverty (1) Prince Islands (1) Prince William (1) puitan (1) Purple (1) Qadesh (1) Qatar (1) Qom (1) Quebec (1) Real I.R.A. (1) Red Sea (1) reformation (1) religion (1) Repression (1) Rich and Poor (1) Russia (3) Saakashvili (1) Sabah (1) Sabra

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 4/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Russia (3) Saakashvili (1) Sabah (1) Sabra (1) Sadr (1) Salts (1) Samarrah (1) Sanahin (1) Saray (1) Sarsfield (1) Sawville (1) Seraglio (1) Serail (1) Sevastapol (1) Shankill (2) shatila (1) Shi'ite (1) Shia (1) Shiite (1) Sidon (1) silk (1) Sisian (1) Slavery (1) Socinian (1) Sourp Hagop (1) South Ossetia (1) St Charbel (1) St Chora (1) St. Chora (1) St. Gregory (1) St. Patrick's basilica (1) Stone age (1) Stonehenge (1) sulpice (1) Sultan (1) Sultanahmet (1) sunnite (1) Syriaque (1) Syunik (1) Tanzimat (1) Tbilisi (1) Teheran (1) Tehran (1) temple (1) The troubles (1) Theocracy (1) Theodosius (2) Thrace (1) Thracia (1) Toland (1) Toleration (1) Topkapi (1) Tourism (1) Trinitarian (1) Tschumi (1) Turkey (4) Turkmenchay (1) Tyre (2) Tyrian purple (1) Uighur (1) Ukraine (1) Ummayad (1) Unesco (2) Unitarian (1) Valukli (1) Venus of Milo (1) Victoria Bridge (1) violence (1) Vize (1) Walid Jumblatt (1) Water (1) Wealth (1) Westphalia (1) The oldest known murex-dyed textile is a fine wool tapestry woven during the fifth to fourth centuries bc in Persia. Whittemore (1) wiltshere (1) World Heritage site Originally a garment, it was later adapted—in a well-worn condition—as a felt-lined horse trapping, which was (1) World Population (1) Xinjiang (1) Yeniceri (1) yerevan (2) Zvartnots (1) buried with its owner (Philippa Scott - State Hermitage Museum, Saudi Aramco World)

It's a purple world! Significant Landmarks from around Beyond the Mediterranean, there are a number of other sea snails useful for dyeing but none equalled Murex. the World Some 140 species flourish off the shores of North and South America. Of these, Purpura patula, Purpura persica and Purpura aperta inhabit the Gulf of Mexico, and these are still valued today in Central America, where women use them to color yarn. Sun and saltwater cause the pigment to oxidize on the fibers into an attractive but uneven David de Sassoun, Yerevan purple. Unlike the Mediterranean types of Murex, which must be crushed in order to obtain the tiny sac of pigment, the gland on the American shellfish is closer to the surface, and the creature can be persuaded to squirt its secretion onto the yarn. Afterward, the shellfish can be put back into the sea, given time to recover, and used again. Threads colored in this way tend to retain a fishy smell, however. The dyes in many pre-Columbian textiles and the purple paint in the Nahuatl codices have been analyzed and found to be shellfish purple.

In ancient Japan yet another type of shellfish was used. In the waters around Scandinavia and the British Isles, the Anglo-Saxons called purple dye "fiscdeag" (“fish dye”), and in the seventh century the Venerable Bede wrote about red and purple dyes obtained from sea snails. In Australia, although there are equivalent shellfish, no evidence has yet been found that these were ever used for textile dyeing.(7)

Phoenicia gave us more than the Purple Dye: Phonetic Alphabet, sea trade Armenian mythological hero, by and Carthage. sculptor Kotchar

Nemrut Ler, Anatolia

Huge sculptures at the top of the Nemrut mountain near Lake Van

Historical Post office, Dublin

According to legend the first purple dye was discovered by Herakle-Melqart city god of Tyre) who was walking It was the scene of the Easter Rising along the Levantine shoreline with the nymph Tyrus. His dog found a Murex snail and devoured it, which left a 1916 against British rule and was beautiful purple color around the dog's mouth. Tyrus saw the color and told Herakle-Melqart she would not accept totally destroyed and rebuilt. his courtship until he brought her a robe of the same color. So he collected the Murex shells, extracted the dye, and tinted the first garment purple. Douro river, Porto, Portugal Byblos, Sidon and Tyre were the main Phoenician cities and traded with many countries round the Mediterranean, especially Italy. The Phoenicians first traded in Italy with the Etruscan, a society of artisans skilled in the art of jewelry making. However, it was with the creation of Imperial Rome by Romulus in 753 B.C. that the Murex’s purple dye began to be synonymous with power,wealth and position. The exports of Phoenicia as a whole included particularly cedar and pine wood, fine linen from Tyre, Byblos, and Berytos (ancient Beirut), cloths dyed with the famous Murex Tyrian purple, embroideries from Sidon, metalwork and glass, glazed faience, wine, salt, and dried fish. They received in return raw materials, such as papyrus, ivory,

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 5/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre and glass, glazed faience, wine, salt, and dried fish. They received in return raw materials, such as papyrus, ivory, ebony, silk,amber, ostrich eggs, spices, incense, horses, gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, jewels, and precious stones. The name Byblos is Greek; papyrus received its early Greek name (byblos,byblinos) from its being exported to the Aegean through Byblos. Hence the English word Bible is derived from byblos as "the (papyrus) book." (3)

The ancient Phoenician city of Tyre was named after after the rocky formation on which the town was originally built. Tyre means “rock”, adjective for Tyre is Tyrian. Tyre was a Phoenician island city founded around the third millennium BC and known as Queen of the Seas. In the 10th century BC, King of Tyre, Ahiram, joined two The port wine keeps on flowing down peninsulas by landfill and extended the city further by reclaiming a considerable area from the sea and built two the river ports and a temple to Melkart, the city's God. Tyre grew wealthy from its far-reaching Phoenician colonies and its industries of purple-dyed textiles in the first millennium BC. The Phoenician expansion began about 815 B.C. when traders from Tyre founded Carthage in H & W shipyards, Belfast North Africa, of which Hannibal is the famous historical leader challenging Rome. Eventually Phoenician colonies spread around the Mediterranean and even the Atlantic, bringing to the city a flourishing maritime trade. In 332 B.C. Alexander the Great set out to conquer this strategic coastal base in the war between the Greeks and the Persians. Unable to storm the city, he blockaded Tyre for seven months. Alexander was so enraged at the Tyrians' defense and the loss of his men that he destroyed half the city. The Romans later built great important monuments in the city, including an aqueduct, a triumphal arch and the largest hippodrome in antiquity. Taken by the Islamic armies in 634 Tyre strong fortifications enabled to resist to the Crusaders until 1124. After about 180 years of Crusader rule, the Mameluke retook the city in 1291, and then it passed on to the Ottomans at the start of the 16th century. With the end of the World War I Tyre was integrated into the new nation of Lebanon, a few miles north of the highly volatile border with Israel. This is where the Titanic was built. A bastion of the Protestant Unionist community's economic hegemony over the Catholics

Keghart, Armenia

Rock carved unique monastery The legendary shell Murex.This is a specimen of Haustellum haustellum, sometimes named as the Mouse Murex

also known as Snipe's bill Murex and Woodcock Murex, a denizen of the Indo-Pacific region(Photo: Mehmet Azadi monument, Tehran, Iran Atatur: Trek Nature)

Azadi means Freedom in Persian. I

Armenian Catholicosate, Antelias, Lebanon

The Catholicosate if Sis was moved to Lebanon after the Armenians were expelled from their homeland during the 1915 Genocide

"Discovery" monument, Lisbon Murex dye with different shades: an example of Suzani Bokhara, Uzbekistan Silk on cotton, circa 1840. Trellis design on center field;murex dye used in flowers on border; irises, pomegranates and carnations throughout. 90 in x 57 ( http://www.estherfitzgerald.com)

Few nations have contributed as much

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 6/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre Few nations have contributed as much to explorations as Portugal.

Via Appia, Italy

Invalid Application ID: The provided Application ID is invalid.

The most famous of the Roman paved roads

Ararat mountain, Armenian

Highland

An example of a manuscript (Trinity College, Dublin) of the Palimpsest Codex of Isaiah, St. Matthew’s Gospel. The letters are written on purple vellum and the letters are gold. The manuscript is from the 6th century.

But what is the secret of this color purple and why was it so unique in history? There is simply no other color so closely attached to Greeks and Romans but royal purple very well known and as Porphyra (!"#$%#&) . It was a custom during the early ages of Christianity, to write their most important manuscripts in gold or silver letters upon vellum stained with royal purple. These manuscripts were produced in this manner in order to be able to present the stronger proof of the high degree of respect with which they were made.(4)

Ararat Ler as seen from the Republic of Armenia. This twin peaked mountain is at the heart of the Armenian identity since pre-history but today lies within Turkey.

Rio De Janeiro, Brasil

The color of your robe indicates your social class Today, clothes of all colors cost the same. But did you know that a few generations ago, the cost depended on the color of the cloth? This was because dyes were expensive to obtain. Tyrian Purple was a dye so expensive that only kings could afford it! Ha'penny bridge, Dublin The imperial robes of Roman emperors were Tyrian purple trimmed in metallic gold thread. The badge of office of a Roman Senator was a stripe of Tyrian purple on their white toga. Tyrian purple was continued in use by the emperors of the Eastern Roman Empire until its final collapse in 1453. In medieval Europe, blue dyes were rare and expensive, so only the most wealthy or the aristocracy could afford to wear them. (The working class wore mainly green and brown.) Because of this (and also because Tyrian purple had gone out of use in western Europe after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in AD 476), Europeans’ idea of purple shifted towards this more bluish purple known as royal purple because of its similarity to the royal blue worn by the aristocracy. This was the shade of purple worn by kings in medieval Europe.

The initial toll to cross the bridge was "half a penny", hence its name Ha'penny

Jose Marti Tomb, Cuba

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 7/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Shades of the Murex: Thistle Lilac, Mauve, Violet, Orchid, Magenta, Fuchsia, Dark Magenta, Purple, Plum, Dark Orchid, Dark Violet Indigo, Lavender, Wine, Heliotrope, Royal Purple, Mulberry, Aubergine! No matter what the name is they all have in common the blended colors of blue and red. (http://slovenian.wunderground.com/blog)

(1853-1895): Cuban National Hero and Poet / writer. The tomb is in Santiago de Cuba, west of Guantanamo Bay and watched 24/7 by an honour guard.

St Magar Monastery, Cyprus

Jesus, too, is Born in Purple?: depicted and dressed as a Roman soldier but wearing royal purple and gold. He is "trampling" the devil (snake) as well as Rome (the lion), and is holding the scriptures which read "I am the way, Monastery built in 1000AD (Coptic), In the truth and the life." By the 5th Century, such a claim would have been acceptable. (photo credit: Alamo.edu) 1425AD, it was handed over to the Armenian Church. Now in Turkish

occupied part of Cyprus near Kyrenia

Karni temple, Armenia

Hellenistic temple overlooking the famous Garni Gorge and its columnar basalts

The port city of Tyre (Today's Sour in South Lebanon) was the ancient capital of Phoenicia and was best known for Persepolis, Iran the production of purple dye extracted from the murex sea snail. The city's strategic and commercial value made it a target of many conquests, and several civilizations have left behind their architectural and cultural legacies. Roman ruins in the Al-Bas district include the largest and best-preserved Roman hippodrome—or horse racing arena—in the Middle East, which held more than 20,000 spectators.(Photo credit 1996- National Geographic Society).

The majestic capital of the Persian Empire

Rock of Gibraltar

The first phonetic alphabet was the most important gift of the Phoenicians to the world. The Greek alphabet was directly inspired from these. Complicated and non practical Alphabets based on syllables rather than sounds were

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 8/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre directly inspired from these. Complicated and non practical Alphabets based on syllables rather than sounds were Galata Genovese tower, Istanbul out.

References: 1: Human Touch of Chemistry http://www.humantouchofchemistry.com/purple

2: www.most-expensive.com

3, 4: http://Phoenicia.org 5: Greek Heraldry Society 6: Philipa Scott: http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/200604/millennia.of.murex.htm:

7: Philipa Scott, Saudi Aramco World, p. 30-37, July/August 2006.

This landmark was a bastion of the 8: http://www.lexorandi.es/Aliturgico/colorviolaceo.htm Genovese merchants (Beyoglu district) Krikor Tersakian, 2010 Montreal, Canada

"Cascade", Yerevan, Armenia Recommend this on Google Written and Posted by Krikor Tersakian

Labels: alphabet, bible, Byblos, Carthage, Constantine, dye, Greek alphabet, imperial purple, Indigo, Lebanon, Murex, papyrus, Phoenecia, Prince William, Purple, Sidon, silk, Tyre, Tyrian purple

0 Ratings No rating

Soviet era monumental cascade, recently renovated in the Armenian 0 comments: capital.

Post a Comment Nelson's "Victory", Portsmouth, UK Links to this post Create a Link

Newer Post Home Older Post

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Read other Krikor Tersakian articles: Republic square, Yerevan, Armenia Religious Toleration and Dissenters Nov 28, 2011 Walls of intolerance separating Protestant and Catholic working class communities in Belfast.  (photo via changesinlongitude.com) Religious or ethnic toleration does not mean to agree with any minority. Toleration is the courage or the will to stop any majority in its attempts to crush the minority. The “Letter Concerning Toleration” (1689) by John Locke was written after centuries of wars, persecutions and intolerance between various Christian denominations in Europe. The letter was published after the protracted and bloody wars of Religion, the Edict of Nantes and the English Act of Toleration, Westphalia. These were all attempts to regulate and bring an acceptable modus vivendi and peace to a divided European society. The major struggles were of course between Catholicism and Reformation churches, but there was also a continuing intolerance toward “non normative”, “heretical” or “dissenting” groups. John Locke belonged to a non Trinitarian sect, was constantly... The Soviet era architectural complex is Continue >> a definite achievement. Oliver Cromwell: A short Biography and His Influence on Ireland Jun 13, 2011 Oliver Cromwell, the military leader of the Parliamentary forces during the English Civil War, is considered one of the most important figures in British, Irish and European history. Cromwell was eventually victorious in the establishment of a socio- St Sepulchre, Jersualem political system dominated by Parliament in what we call Constitutional Monarchy. Although he was a devout Puritan and staunch anti- Catholic, he is thought to have been relatively tolerant in religious matters but unyielding to any concessions to the absolutist tendencies of the Stuart monarch Charles I. The Cromwell mural in the Loyalist-Unionist Protestant working class Shankill neighborhood (Belfast). Cromwell is still a very dividing figure and is used in for political shenanigans. The message on the mural and the detail (below) show a deep sense of pride by the Protestants in Cromwell's heavy handed treatment and massacres of Catholics Cromwell was a military and organizational genius who was... Continue >> The intra-Christian violence during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1989) May 09, 2011                                                                    photo: iranmilitary.net      The Lebanese civil war was a long and high intensity violent conflict that lasted from 1975 to the early nineties when the Taïf (Saudi Arabia) accords were signed and ratified in 1989. The tiny county of 10453 km2, once known as the “Paris” of the Near East, still is a powder keg ready to explode in sporadic or sustained violence. The Lebanese civil war was in fact inevitable from the day the French Mandate took over the region known as Greater Syria. They carved a country out of historical Syria to create a homeland tailor -made for their... Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem Continue >> The Irish Ghetto of Montreal: Griffintown Mar 20, 2011 Montreal Irish ghetto during its "Golden Age": Griffintown was the Irish working class neighborhood near the old port and Lachine Canal. The canal was first dug in 1925-26 mostly by the Irish workers who dug the canal to bypass the St. Lawrence rapids (photo credit: public domain)         Griffintown today is a disaster. Few visitors to these desolate and cold streets of Montreal  can even imagine that the area used to be the very heart of a vibrant Irish working class community called Griffintown. A community that has marked life in Montreal, Quebec and Canada and its sad decline and the eventual death.  A recently published book, An Irish Heart by Dreidger (1) makes it clear that knowing and understanding Griffintown means recognizing the hardships, failures, successes and the enormous challenges faced by waves of Irish immigrants and their descendants in their quest to build a brighter future for themselves and their families. And... Third holiest Mosque in Islam after

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 9/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre brighter future for themselves and their families. And... Third holiest Mosque in Islam after Continue >> Mecca and Medina. It is believed that the Prophet rose to the sky from this Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre holy place. Dec 28, 2010 Dye Murex, Trunculariopsis (Murex) trunculus can be frequently seen on the muddy-rocky and/or algae covered intertidal- sub-tidal zones of the Mediterranean - Aegean system. A gland situated under the gills secretes a mucous liquid which may produce yellow, green, blue, red or the famous "royal purple" colors of the ancient Mediterranean peoples, according to the method used. (Photo credit: Mehmet Atatur http://www.treknature.com For Kings only: the Tyrian Purple The Emperors of Mostar bridge, Bosnia Byzantium made a law forbidding anybody from using Tyrian Purple except themselves. The expression ‘born in the purple’ rose from this practice. But what is the amazing story behind these prohibitively expensive and legendary dyes today costing over 3 Million US$ a liter? Three thousand years ago the Phoenicians controlled trade in purple dyed silks. The gland of the sea-snail Murex trunculus secretes a yellow fluid that, when exposed to sunlight, turns purple-blue. A similar dye,... Continue >> Mount Lebanon's odd couple: The Druze and the Maronites Sep 01, 2010 A sectarian map of Lebanon: note the Maronite and Druze strongholds at the very heart of the country. The Sunni have a heavy presence in the major coastal towns from Tarablus (Tripoli) to Sayda (Sidon) and the sparsely populated north. The south and the fertile Beqaa valley to east are predominantly Shi'a, strongholds of the Hizbullah and the Amal Movement. Druze leader Walid Jumblatt wondered in 2009 "The Maronites and Druze have become the red Indians of Lebanon. In light of the Sunni-Shiite conflict in the region, there is a new Lebanon and a new political geography will Rebuilt after its destruction during the surface ". (Al-Akhbar daily)'" These remarks are so true and explain in a nutshell the fact that the Christian Maronites and Bosnian civil war afollowing the bloody the heterodox Shi'a sect called the Druze have been Lebanon's historical backbone. These two communities have now dissolution of the Yugoslav Federation. somehow been relegated to a back seat position by the emergence of the Sunni and the Shi'a communities both in power and demographics.  Lebanese politics is mainly... Continue >> St. Chora's amazing High Definition mosaics Obelisks, Axum, Ethiopia May 10, 2010 Ten megapixel Mosaics! St. Chora Church is not the most impressive of the Byzantine churches but it has arguably the best mosaics of the era (10-12th century), all executed when the fate of Constantinople was very clear with the city surrounded by the Ottoman forces. The church is best known for housing some of the best preserved mosaics and frescoes from the late-Byzantine period and considered among the very best in the world. (Photo: Krikor Tersakian)St. Chora High Definition mosaic: St. Paul at St. Chora church. Unsurpassed quality.  It is funny, but every time I mention the Chora church to friends in Montreal, they think I am talking eggs, fruits and and pancakes ! You see, "Cora" is a pretty successful breakfast serving chain in Quebec owned by a Greek businesswoman, while I am trying to talk about the Chora church in Constantinople that houses the best Byzantine Mosaics and Frescoes, arguably the finest in the world! The world had to wait until very recently for... Continue >> Iraq's unique Islamic Shi'a shrines explained Mar 28, 2010 Najaf: Ali Bin abi Taleb Shrine is the third holiest for the Shi'a (or Shiite) Islam after Mecca and Medina. It is followed by the Mosques in nearby Karbala where Ali's younger son Hussein and family were massacred by the Omayyad in the battle of Boca district, Buenos Aires Karbala in 680 AD Iraq has been at the very center of the world news scene for all the wrong reasons. An artificial war in a country with artificially drawn borders by colonial powers. The land of Iraq is as historic as it gets and very few spots on earth can claim so much credit in the development of Human History and Civilization. The fertile lowland is richly watered by the rivers Euphrates and Tigris, and the "land between the rivers" is what was called Mesopotamia. Assyria, Babylon, Nineveh, Ur, Sumer are all household names of the past, but few realize that since the 7th century Iraq has always taken a center stage in all the events shaping the early days of Islam as a religion and as an empire. This is why... Continue >> Symphony of Stones: from Garni Gorge to Giant's Causeway Jan 17, 2010 Part I: The Garni Gorge and Giant's Causeway: Two unique sites of Basalt Symphony.  Part II: The incredible Story of the Girona Spanish Armada warship wrecked in 1588 AD near Giant's Causeway, Northern Ireland; The death of 1300 people on board and the recovery of its treasures.Part III: The Hellenistic Garni Temple complex watching over the unique Garni Gorge near Yerevan, Armenia  Part I: The Garni Gorge and Giant's Causeway: distant cousins but part of the The birthpalce of Tango and home to same Basalt Symphony Northern Ireland's Giant Causeway, circa 1890 AD. The scenery of course is unchanged today. the Boca Juniors Football team and its One century is the equivalent of just one minute for these 50 million years old natural wonders. 40,000 columnar rocks famous stadium called the make the Causeway one of the most amazing natural sites on earth, yet it was almost unknown until the 18th century! The Bonbonnera amazing fact about Northern Ireland's most popular tourist attraction is that it was almost unknown to the world and even to most Britons as late as 1730 AD.  The... Continue >> Yerevan's best kept secret?: The Gök (Blue) Mosque St Sophia, Istanbul Dec 13, 2009 Yerevan's unique mosque is a surprisingly imposing religious complex covering more than 70,000 sq.ft of prime land in the Center of the capital. Being an Iranian mosque, it follows the Twelver Shi'ite branch of Islam, as Shi'ism was proclaimed state religion of the Persia by the Safavid Empire from the early 16th century and on. (Photo: SasunsyDavit) The tiny Republic of Armenia never ceases to amaze and surprise the world with its vast cultural heritage and important landmarks disproportionate to its size. The landlocked country in the Caucasus in the Highlands of biblical Mount Ararat has an area of under 30,000 km.sq. with a population of around 3 million. Since the fall of the Soviet bloc in 1991 it regained its independence and now is being discovered by visitors and investors from around the Globe. Understandably the capital Yerevan is the magnet attracting the new investments, developments and the lion's share of all the visitors who comb the country and are left amazed by... Continue >>

The Istanbul Pogroms of 1955: The tragic expulsion of the Greeks Nov 15, 2009 The 1955 Istanbul Pogroms by Turkish mobs: They attacked mostly Greeks, but also the Armenians, and Jews. An estimated 15 were killed. More than 3500 homes and 5000 shops were destroyed . It was the end of the Greek community's Saladin tomb, Damascus significant presence since the ancient times. The 6 September 1955 was a very black day indeed. A day when thousands of organized Turkish mobs targeted mainly the Greek community but also other minorities in Istanbul with the clear intent to do as much harm as possible. They burned, looted and destroyed thousands of previously marked and identified businesses belonging to Greeks and also to Armenians. They desecrated cemeteries, attacked 72 churches, hundreds of homes, killing at least 15 innocent people. Even more tragically, these pogroms put an end to any significant Greek presence in the city since thousands of years. The numbers of Greeks dropped rapidly after these attacks and today there are fewer than 1500 mostly elderly Greeks left.  It was... Continue >> The Ottoman slave gathering system: The "Devsirme" Oct 21, 2009 A Devsirme slave collecting officer with new "conscript" slaves gathered from christian conquered nations, especially in the Balkans. The girl probably ended up in a Harem and the boys trained as Janissary soldiers or civil servants somewhere in the Ottoman Empire. One of the most misunderstood and controversial aspects of the Ottoman Empire was its (1138-1193): Saladin conquered the disproportionate reliance on Orthodox Christian slaves forcibly gathered as "Blood Tax", mostly from various communities in the the Balkans under the control of the Sultan. This forced slavery system of young Christian boys from conquered Near east and beat the Crusaders at peoples was institutionalized, ruthlessly efficient and lasted for centuries. It was called Devsirme (pronounced devshirm'eh, the Battle of Hittin. He is buried in the !"#$%&'(), which means "gathering" in Turkish, as in gathering fruits and vegetables! A very imaginative word to describe majestic Umayyad Mosque in the the forced enslaving of tens of thousands of future soldiers and servants to their absolute owner, the Ottoman Sultan ! Syrian capital. Devsirme became the "lubrication"... Continue >> Bobby Sands mural, Belfast

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 10/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Karahunge: The Armenian Stonehenge Bobby Sands mural, Belfast Oct 11, 2009 Karahunge is a very unique and almost unknown megalithic site in Armenia that may have had a much bigger regional influence than previously thought or understood. Research and understanding of its mysteries are incomplete. The promotion and preservation of the site are nonexistent.  The Stonehenge is a marvel of the ancient world, situated in the Salisbury plain west of London, England. It is the most famous megalithic site on earth and fully deserves its fame by the sheer size of the stones and their incredible technique of construction for their age. Like other similar sites all around Europe, it was sacred place for meeting, praying, burial, observing the celestial movements and praising the supernatural and the mystical. The very venerable Stonehenge is in a sense unique in the world, but it may owe a big debt to an obscure Armenian megalithic site called the Karahunge. Quite simply, Karahunge and Stonehenge have identical names: KaraHunge / StoneHenge. "Kar"means "Stone",... Bobby's smile is worth a thousand Continue >> words. Our tour guide in Belfast called The Japanese who killed the Natural Pearl him a terrorist. That still hurts me. Sep 12, 2009 Mikimito Statue in Toba, Japan: It is the world's birthplace of the cultured pearl industry. In 1893 Mikimoto Kokichi (1858- 1954) produced the world's first cultured pearl. His life and work is celebrated on Mikimoto Pearl Island. The Pearl Museum explains how natural and cultured pearls are produced, how they are graded, polished and strung on necklaces or set in Khyber pass, Pakistan-Afghanistan jewelry. For centuries, people have been trying to unlock the secret of nature and duplicate such things as gold, silver, diamonds, ivory, precious stones and other wonders of the natural world. Alchemists old and new have tirelessly tried to recreate valuable inorganic material from scratch and to get...rich. Pearls of course were no exception and they were at the very top of the luxury items pyramid. A perfect natural pearl was both extremely rare and expensive. The mystical work of a tiny mollusk was extraordinary in producing such natural gems. For centuries diving for pearls was practiced around the globe and... Continue >> Who will save the Dead Sea from dying? Aug 28, 2009 The Dead Sea: The salt deposits are a wonderful sight but the sea is in danger of drying up soon beyond the sustainable limit. The water level is hitting dangerous record lows, losing almost a meter per year. The lake surface presently is nearly 400 meters (1,300 feet) below sea level, making it the lowest spot on Earth. Lately the shopping centers around the world are flooded with a new generation of cosmetic products prepared with chemicals and minerals from the Dead Sea: Facial creams, Lotions, Body mud, Bath salt, Scrubs, Balms, Herbal sachets etc. The healing power of these products seems to have reached a universal marketing network and has legions of consumers. And yet, paradoxically, the Dead Sea itself is dying. It may well dry up within fifty years if water is not replenished to raise the level, but no one seems to do much about it. Healing skins and offering a fresh healthy skin to women are laudable objectives to achieve. No one denies that. Excavating and selling tons... Central Park, New York City Continue >> What if Malthus was right? The world needs to double food production in next 50 years or else... Aug 11, 2009 Super rich and Super poor: Stunning and disgusting contrast in Sao Paolo: The rich and their private balconies complete with swimming pools and excellent views on the shantytown next door! In his book "Essay on the Principle of Population" (1798), the English economist and demographer Thomas Malthus (1766-1834) claimed that the human population was increasing every twenty-five years in a geometrical ratio (that is 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256!), while the food supply was increasing only in an arithmetical ratio (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8...). While the world population doubles every now and then, food resources show a much more modest rise, far less than what is needed to feed the extra masses. Malthus claimed that this huge disparity will always exist no matter what, and that is the root of the major problems humanity will always face. The world's population today stands at more than 6 bl, will hit 7bl in 2012 and 9bl in 2040 but very unequally distributed over Strawberry Fields, "Imagine" mosaic, the continents.... near the Dakota building where John Continue >> Lennon was gunned down in 1980. First Anniversary of Georgia's bloodied nose Aug 06, 2009 Georgia's ill fated attempt to reclaim South Ossetia and Abkhazia was a total disaster. Was it wrong advice from "friends" or just an Indiana Jones style adventure from Tbilisi? Russia did not lose time to crush the over optimistic Georgians and Pera palace hotel, Istanbul practically annex South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Click on map to enlarge. August 7-8, 2008 were memorable days. The whole world was glued to the TV sets for the stunning opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics. The "Bird's Nest", or the Beijing National Stadium had become the epicenter of the world. Yet on practically the same day, the tiny Caucasian state of Georgia had launched massive attacks on the secessionist South Ossetia province, directly challenging Russia. The timing of the Georgian attack was very bizarre and intriguing: A major offensive within a few hours of the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies? What was going on and who was really pushing for such a suicidal showdown? The Georgian government claimed it was only responding... Continue >> Iran & China: Contrasting reactions to internal crises Jul 20, 2009 A Muslim Uighur woman walks with her son past security forces in the town of Kashgar, Xinjiang Province. The Government is omnipresent in this remote Autonomous Province in deep crisis but the news media are not banned. The recent events in China and Iran were significant in the very contrasting ways these two nations handled their respective internal problems. Both the post-presidential election crisis in Iran and the bloody riots in the westernmost Xinjiang province of China were well documented in the international media, albeit with some predictable biases and prejudices.The two events were of course not similar in nature but they went a long way reflecting on the relative stability, self confidence and their "savoir faire". The clashes in Iran were (and still are) mostly ideological between the existing theocracy and relatively more liberal Historical Hotel, built for the Orient forces of the opposition. These widespread protest, clashes and reprisals pierced serious holes in the Armour of the Express passengers (Beyoglu district) Ayatollahs and... Continue >> The giant of Biran: Castro Jul 15, 2009 Baron Hotel, Aleppo, Syria !"#$%&% '($) *+,$%- ."/&( 0$+1#2 !"#$%3 4"56$7$6$7 "+, ,$#'(" 8& ,98'(: !$#:$;&+ 4#'1& 7%$<$) =&, 4"56£ *$:"5 =" 7$%" >$#"5# 3%/$%"7 9#9%< ="$, /%/'+$,$% :?$695=3 @$7$#'6&7" $#/$A#951"5%% & A$#'#& " B'#: äÇñ"#Á Ç$ñ»õ %ÇõÕ Ï"ñ»ÉÇ ã¿ #áÛ#ÇëÏ &Çõñáõû"Ù$ %ï#»É ¶áõå"# #»ñÏ"Û"ó#áÕ Ñ"ë"ñ"Ï ù"ñï¿ëÇ ÙÁ íñ"Û£ '# ÏÁ %ï#áõÇ ÏÕ(ÇÇ »ñÏñáñ& Ù»Í ù"Õ"ù ê"#ÃÇ"Ïû ïÁ ¶áõå"Û¿# Ùûï Ù¿Ï Å"Ù ÑÇõëÇë« )ûÉÏÇ# "#áõ"#$ ù"Õ"ùÁ ï"#áÕ "#Ñ"õ"ë"ñ *"#$áõ# íñ"Û£ ÆëÏ"å¿ë Ïáñëáõ"Í "#ÏÇõ# ÙÁ ù"ñ"ÛÇå»"# "Ù¿#¿# Ù»Í ÏÕ(ÇÇ# íñ"Û£ ê"Ï"Û# $#"õ ãË"$áõÇ#ù Ù"Ï»ñ»ë"ÛÇ# »ñ»õáÛÃ#»ñ¿#£äÇñ"# ËÇëï Ï"ñ»õáñ ¿ å"ïÙ"Ï"# ÇÙ"ëïáí£ ì»ñçÇí»ñçáÛ Ñá# "ßË"ñÑ »Ï"Í ¿ üÇï¿É ø"ëÃñá#« Çñ 6 ùáÛñ»ñ# áõ »Õ$"Ûñ#»ñÁ« "#ßáõßï #»ñ"é»"É Çñ (Ç#áõáñ"-ù"Õ"ù"Ï"# »ñÏ"ñ Ï»"#ùÇ (Ç#"ÏÇó +"áõÉ »Õ$"ÛñÁ £ üÇï¿ÉÇ Ñ"ÛñÁª '#Å¿É ø"ëÃñû Ç 'ñÏÇ( êå"#ÇáÛ "ñ»õÙï»"# Î"ÉÇëÇ" #"Ñ"#%¿# %"ÕÃ"Ï"# ÙÁ »Õ"Í ¿£ '# Ñ"ë"Í ¿ñ äÇñ"#Ç ßñç"#Á »õ Û"ñ"ï»õ "ßË"ï"#ùáí Û"çáÕ"Í ¿ áõ Ñ"ñëï"ó"Í« &"é#"Éáí äÇñ"#Ç )áÕ"ï¿ñ Ù»Í çáçÁ£ 'Û& Û"Ù"#"Ï#»ñáõ# ß"ù"ñ»Õ¿%Á Í»éùáí Ïïñ»Éáõ ß"ï Í"#ñ "ßË"ï"#ù¿# »ïù... Continue >>

The strategic importance of the Black Sea Jul 01, 2009 Historical Hotel, integral part of the "The battle of Sinop, 1853": Russian navy destroying Ottoman ships on the Black sea. Imperial Russian navy destroyed region's history. Ottoman eleven Frigates and Corvettes anchored in the harbor. It was the start of the Crimean war. (Painting by Armenian seascape painter Hovannes Ayvazovski) The Black sea has always been less ''sexy'' than its bigger and more important neighbour, the Mediterranean: Less prominent, more marginal and less understood, especially in the West. The strategic importance of the Black sea is easily underestimated despite its huge importance . The very heterogeneous countries that Hamidiye souk, Damascus occupy the shores of the Black sea are a sure indication of its importance. Since pre-historical times this sea has played a pivotal role in the European as well as Asian history. Endless cultures and civilisations have thrived, ruled, colonised and disappeared from its shores. Hittites, Scythians, Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Persians, Genoese, Venetians, Tatars, and various Slavic and... Continue >> The Parthenon and its missing Marbles: A possible reunion?

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 11/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre The Parthenon and its missing Marbles: A possible reunion? Jun 24, 2009 This amazing Horse is part of the Elgin Marbles exhibited at the British Museum. The Parthenon without its marble decorations... Greece recently opened a new mega structure it calls the Acropolis Museum in Athens, located near the historical hill. This new museum seems stunning in every aspect with very modern and well designed halls and corridors with state of the art technology. The obvious purpose is the long term preservation of the priceless findings and artifacts related to the Acropolis. Bernard Tschumi (a post modern ''decontructivist'' school swiss architect) has done everything to allow light and landscape merge perfectly into the vast and modern museum creating a fabulous ensemble of the old and the new. The new Acropolis Museum will display plaster copies of the missing Marbles waiting for the return of the originals... But there is a very famous and most important absentee from all the displayed exhibits: The Parthenon's decorative Elgin Marbles.... The covered bazaar's entrance Continue >> through some Roman ruins The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople: A Story of Survival Jun 01, 2009 The Haghia Yorgi (Ste Georges church) of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, Fener. As far as I remember, I was always intrigued by the "Ecumenical" Patriarchate of the Orthodox Church based in Istanbul. So often I would read or hear on the news: ''The Leather tanneries, Fez, Morocco Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras today had a meeting with the Pope'' or ''Athenagoras today met with this or that president''. But who is this enigmatic Patriarch and his Patriarchate? I would always ask. Questions puzzling me at my tender age... To make the matters even more complicated, the Armenian translation of the Patriarchate’s title contains the word ''Diyezeragan'', a vague translation of universal/ ecumenical/Cosmopolitan. hardly an easy job to describe! Moreover, the Greek word ‘’Ecumenical’’ has always sounded a bit funny to me. The sight of an old and bearded Greek Patriarch residing in Istanbul where there are almost no Greeks left added to the puzzle. Therefore, visiting the Holy See of the Ecumenical Patriarchate... Continue >> Journey to Kiyikoy, Northern Thrace, Turkey May 12, 2009 The Haghia Nicholas Monastery (Midye / Kiyikoy) entrance and the self appointed "resident guardian" watching the tourist traffic! Inside the Haghia Nicolas monastery (Midye/Kiyikoy) Getting out of the Istanbul traffic mini-hell is not an easy task. Smell awfull but look great, these old Even on a Sunday morning. The mega-city has extended tentacles spread for long miles and miles over both sides of the fashioned tanneries... magnificent Bosporus strait. The road to the remote village of Demirkoy, just before Bulgarian border in the Thrace, is about 200 km. Forty five minutes were enough to get the better of the Istanbul’s northern boundaries. Endless brick and mortar gradually gave way to green open pastures. The Edirne (Adrianapolis) bound highway cutting the landscape into two asymmetrical shapes leaving the overcrowded old lady Constantinople behind us and promising us a leap back to Mother Guggenheim museum, New York Nature. Heading North to the ‘’European’’ lands of modern Turkey, is an exciting experience. The region has been known City as Thrace throughout... Continue >> Dark clouds again over Northern Ireland (Armenian, !"#$%&') Apr 17, 2009 ("%)$"* +,-. "+/$% !0-101"#0' 2%*"'3"#0 4%"#:  5"1'670'8 3"%0'$%,- #"%"9$%":"' ;"<"<,-.0-'& $3=> !0-101"#0' 2%*"'3"#0 $%:0'=6 ?"%)$"* +."8'$@"- 9%03"'"@0 $%:,- A0',-,%'$%,- $- ,130:"'0 +6 1/"'',-.$"+9: Continuity IRA »õ Real IRA Ñ!"#ñ!#å»#ï!#Ï!" !Û#É!#Ù»ñÅ $Ç"#»!É ËÙ%!Ï#"»#ñÁ ëï!"Ó#"»#óÇ" !Ûë !ñÇõ#"áï !ñ!ñù#"»#ñáõ" å!#ï!ë#Ë!#"!#- ïáõáõ#ÃÇõ"Á »õ !"#ÙÇ#ç!#Ï!" Ñ!ñ#ó!#Ï!#"Ç ï!Ï &ñÇ" »ñÏ#ñÇ ù!#Õ!#ù!#Ï!" ß!ï ÷Ëñáõ" Status Quo-": ´!Ûó á±í »" !"á"ù »õ DZ"ã "å!#- ï!Ï#"»ñ ÏÁ ÑÇ#ï!å"#&»": 'Ûë "áñ ëå!#"áõ#ÃÇõ"#"»#ñÁ, ù!#Õ!#ù!#Ï!" å!#ï»#ñ!$#ÙÇ ÙÁ í»ñëÏë#Ù!" Ùï!#í!#Ëáõ#ÃÇõ"Á Û!#é!#ç!#óáõ#óÇ", !Ñ áõ &áÕ ï!#ñ!#Í»#Éáí ä¿É#(!ë#ÿ" î!å#ÉÇ" »õ Èá"#ïá": Ø!Ñ#áõ!" ëïáõ»#ñÁ &!ñÓ#»!É Û!Ûï"#áõ»#ó!õ )Çõ#ëÇ#ë!#ÛÇ" Æñ#É!#"!#ï!#ÛÇ íñ!Û: 1970-1998 ï»#õ!Í ù!#Õ!#ù!ó#Ç#!#Ï!" å!#ï»#ñ!$#ÙÁ åÇ#ïÇ íÇñëÏ#ëDZ !ñ&#»ûù: The troubles Ïá#ãáõáÕ !Û& Ù!#Ñ!#óáõ Å!#Ù!#"!#Ï!ßñ#ç!#"Á ËÉ!Í ¿ñ !õ»#ÉÇ ù!" 3500 $áÑ »õ 50 000 íÇ#ñ!#õáñ: '"#ßáõßï The Troubles å!#ïÇ#ñ!$#ÙÁ *á#"¿ Å!#Ù!#"!#Ï!#õáñ Ï»ñ#åáí í»ñç *ï!õ 1998-Ç" ëïá#ñ!*ñ#áõ!Í... Continue >>

Impressions from Belfast Apr 16, 2009 Architectural masterpiece copied B%":6 +,;0%0' 3": (5/"-,%,-.0-''$% C$*D"1.&') êÏáíïÇáÛ *ÉË!õáñ ù!Õ!ù ÎÉ!ëÏáÛ¿" å¿ïù ¿ ùᯐ Ùûï!õáñ!å¿ë Ù&ÏáõÏ¿ë elsewhere but not equalled Å!Ù, Ñ!ë"»Éáõ Ñ!Ù!ñ Íáí»$»ñ»!Û Stanraer !õ!"Á: 'Ûë ÷áùñÇÏ !õ!"¿" ¿, áñ Ñ!$!ñ!õáñ +!Ù%áñ&"»ñ Çñ»"ó Ç"ù"!ß!ñÅ»ñáí »õ ÷áË!&ñ!Ï!éù»ñáí ÏÁ Ùï"»" ÑëÏ!Û!Ï!" Ferry-boat-»ñáõ Ù¿ç, Ù»Ï"»Éáõ Ñ!Ù!ñ &¿åÇ )ÇõëÇë!ÛÇ" ÆñÉ!"ï!ÛÇ íÇñ!õáñ Ù!Ûñ!ù!Õ!ùÁª ä»É(!ëÃ: ,áõ¿ï!Ï!" &ñûß!Ïáí Ù»ñ Ferry-boat-Á ËÇëï !ñ&Ç!Ï!" ¿: '" Çñ ÑëÏ!Û!Ï!" helice- "»ñáí ÏÁ +»Õù¿ ÇñÉ!"ï!Ï!" ÍáíÇ" Ëáñ çáõñ»ñÁª Ñ»$!ë!Ñûñ¿" ï!"»Éáí Ù»$ &¿åÇ "!õ!Ñ!"*Çëï: ä»É(!ëà !"ßáõßï !ßË!ñÑÇ !Ù»"¿" "ß!"!õáñ »õ ïËñ!Ñéã!Ï ''/'' ï!éáí ëÏëáÕ »ñ»ù Ù!Ûñ!ù!Õ!ù"»ñ¿" Ù¿Ï" ¿, ä¿ÛñáõÃÇ »õ ä!Õï!ïÇ ÏáÕùÇ": The so- Corinthus Canal, Greece called ''peace walls'' of Belfast, seperating the Catholic (Republican) from the Potestant (Loyalist) : when will these walls of shame come down? 'Ñ!° Ñ»éáõ¿" ÏÁ ï»ë"áõÇ" !ñ&¿" ä»É(!ëÃÇ ßñç!Ï!ÛùÇ É»é"»ñÁ »õ !å!ª ä»É(!ëÃÇ "!õ!Ñ!"*Çëï" áõ Íáí»$»ñ»!Û !ñáõ!ñÓ!""»ñáõ *»Õ»óÇÏ ïáõ"»ñÁ, íëï!Ñ!%!ñ *ÉË!õáñ!å¿ë %áÕáù!Ï!""»ñáõ... Continue >>

Krikor Tersakian latest posts

Religious Toleration and Dissenters Taking a shortcut route through Peloponesia.

Oliver Cromwell: A short Biography and His Influence on Ireland Amsterdam, Netherlands

The intra-Christian violence during the Lebanese civil war (1975-1989)

The Irish Ghetto of Montreal: Griffintown

Sikh Temple, Amritsar, India

Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre ...

Mount Lebanon's odd couple: The Druze and the Maronites

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 12/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre Mount Lebanon's odd couple: The Druze and the Maronites

St. Chora's amazing High Definition mosaics Ten megapixel Mosaics! <...

An absolute gem by any standard

Iraq's unique Islamic Shi'a shrines explained La Foule, Montreal, Canada

Symphony of Stones: from Garni Gorge to Giant's Causeway

Yerevan's best kept secret?: The Gök (Blue) Mosque

Interseting ensemble of the Crowds in all existential shapes and forms

The Istanbul Pogroms of 1955: The tragic expulsion of the Greeks Catacombs, Paris

The Ottoman slave gathering system: The "Devsirme"

Karahunge: The Armenian Stonehenge Underground storage of human remains

The Japanese who killed the Natural Pearl Bath circus, England

Who will save the Dead Sea from dying? The Dead Sea: The salt deposits are a wonderful sight but the sea is in danger of drying up soon beyond the sustainable limit. The water level is hit... Georgian architecture built between 1754 and 1768

What if Malthus was right? The world needs to double food production in next 50 years or else... Egyptian spice market, Istanbul Super rich and Super poor : Stunning and disgusting contrast in Sao Paolo: The rich and their private balconies complete w ith swimmin...

First Anniversary of Georgia's bloodied nose

Iran & China: Contrasting reactions to internal crises

The covered bazaar near the Yeni The giant of Biran: Castro Mosque and Galata bridge. !"#$%&% '($) *+,$%- ."/&( 0$+1#2 !"#$%3 4"56$7$6$7 "+, ,$#'(" 8& ,98'(: !$#:$;&+ 4#'1& 7%$<$) =&, 4"56£ *$:"5 =" 7$%" >$#"5# 3%/$%"7 9#9%< ="$,...

Eindhoven, Netherlands The strategic importance of the Black Sea "The battle of Sinop, 1853": Russian navy destroying Ottoman ships on the Black sea. Imperial Russian navy destroyed Ottoman eleven Frigates and Corve...

! Recent Posts Thumbnails by Blogger Widgets

Facebook

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 13/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Send 32 people St Lazare, Mekhitaristes, Venice

The island of the famous Amenian order of catholic priests near Venice

Batroun, Lebanon

Crusade (or Ayyubite?) era castle in Northern Lebanon

Othello's tower, Famagusta, Cyprus

Famagusta is under Turkish rule in this lovely but divided island.

Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

The very center of everything good and evil under the Ottomans. The Sultans later moved to the nearby Dolmabahce and Yildiz palaces and abandonned the Topkapi.

St Basil, Moscow

Onion shaped Russian Orthodox domes

St Catherine monastery, Sinai, Egypt

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 14/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Halkidiki meteori, Salonik, Greece

British museum, London, UK

Catholic-Protestant partition wall Belfast, UK

Republican and Unionist areas still segregated by this wall of Shame

Sief palace, Kuwait city

Al Sabah ruling family Emir's executive headquarters, while he lives in nearby Dasman Palace

Lhassa, Tibet, China

Ciragan palace, Istanbul

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 15/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre Ciragan palace, Istanbul

An Ottoman Palace, today a five star Hotel on the Bosporus, next to the Dolmabahce Palace

Chureito peace Pagoda, Mount Fuji, Japan

Reclining Buddha, Laos

Ceuta enclave, Spain

Samarkand, Uzbekistan

One of the marvels of world culture on the Silk Road

Persepolis, Iran

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 16/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Portuguese colonial town on the opposte side from Buenos Aires, seperated by the Rio Del Plata

Sidon castle, Lebanon

Genocide memorial, Armenia

Commemorating the April 24, 1915 Armenian Genocide by the Ottomans and the Young Turks resulting in 1.5 m victims

Madayin Saleh, Saudi Arabia

Nabatean rock carved city like Petra in nearby Jordan

Jerash, Jordan

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 17/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Huge Roman ruins of a majestic city

Castillo del Morro, Santiago Cuba

This spanish colonial castle offers one of the most breathtaking vistas over the Carribean sea. It is also the site of the decisive naval battle during the Spanish -American war.

Mysore, Bangalore, India

Segovia aqueduct, Spain

Madenataran archives, Armenia

This Yerevan religious and historical archives depository is priceless.

Cuzco wall, Peru

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 18/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Playing lego puzzle with huge rocks by genius Inca craftsmen.

Edinburgh Castle, Scotland

Sardarabad memorial, Armenia

In the memory of the First Armenian Republic after the victory in May 28, 1918

Mount Athos, Greece

Underground cistern, Istanbul

Byzantine huge cistern near the Haghia Sofya

Tbilissi, Georgia

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 19/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Koutoubia, Marrakesh, Morocco

Dublin spire, Ireland

Waterwheels, Hama, Syria

Roman era water wheels on the Orontes river

Etchmiadzin, Armenia

Armenian Apostolic Catholicosate, Near Yerevan. The other Catholicosate is in Antelias, Lebanon

Leptis Magna, Libya

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 20/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Serpent column, Hippodrome, Istanbul

Delphi oracle monument transported to Constantinople by Byzantine Emperor Constantin

Constantine arch, Rome

Cappadocia, Turkey

Citadel, Aleppo, Syria

Toledo, Spain

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 21/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Hampton Court, England

Henry VIII had a very luxurious life...

Obelisk, Buenios Aires

The largest avenue in the world in a major city.

Anjar, Lebanon

The Umayad era Palace on the road to Damascus in an Armenian village.

Umayyad Mosque, Damascus

Ermitage, St Petersburg, Rusia

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 22/26 12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Machu Picchu, Peru

Is this the most amazing human settlement site?

Cordoba, Spain

Dubrovnik, Croatia

Blue Mosque, Istanbul

The Sultanahmet Mosque may not the best in Istanbul, but it is certainly the most famous, with six perfect minarets

Ortakoy, Istanbul

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 23/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

Baroque 19th century Mosque bye the Bosporus, (Armenian architect Balyan)

Grande Place, Brussels, Belgium

Invalides, Paris, France

Abu Simbel, Egypt

Petra, jordan

The rock carved Nabatean city on the spice road from the Red Sea to the Levant

Haghpat, Armenia

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 24/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

One of the most important church complexes in Armenia

Isfahan, Iran

Oe of the most beautiful cities in the Worl built by the Safavid dynasty.

Pantheon, Rome

Is this the most perfect classical building in Europe? One of the most influencial, anyway.

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 25/26

12/14/11 Krikor Tersakian: Murex: The Imperial Purple Dye of Tyre

With Alex and Sevan at Arsenal stadium in London

Web Info

Krikor Tersakian (Canada), Rights of photos in my articles belonging to original owners.. Awesome Inc. template. Template images by mammuth. Powered by Blogger.

www.ktersakian.com/2010/12/murex-imperial-purple-dye-of-tyre.html 26/26