Tyrian Dye was not only produced in Tyros but probably throughout the Roman Empire
Before starting our journey, I go every year on Google Earth and Google Map to follow carefully the coast of the trip ahead. The beauty of both applications is that they allow locals to post their own photos and links. Less well-known monuments and interesting sites are thus documented which otherwise would never make it into public space. I found the story about the French patrol boat sunk by oranges this way.
Antique Aperlai is about 20 km west of Demre, the old Myra where Saint Paul changed Ship
Searching further west on the Lycian shore line, I was looking for more evidence on the Uluburun ship wreck. We will be visiting the spot where it sank (near Kekova) during the second week and shall see the restored ship in the Maritime Museum in Bodrum (the old Saint Peter Castle built by the Knights of Saint John with stones from the famous Mausoleum, one of the ancient wonders of the world).
Goods found on the Uluburun Wreck are testimony of a large, antique Trade Network
Whilst unsuccessful in my research, I found something else: the ancient city of Aperlai or Aperlae. There is not much left of this small town which probably had 1’000 inhabitants only. A few Lydian sarcophagi are still there and parts of the town wall still stand. The rest lies in ruins. What is intriguing is the fact that the town had neither a theatre nor an agora (market place). Some remains of the old harbor that sunk below the sea during an earth quake are visible though. The city is located in an inhospitable area dominated by limestone rocks and littered with pygmy bushes – there is no source of water. But Claudius Ptolemy and Pliny the Elder, the earliest geographers, both mention the town in their writings.
Aperlai's ancient Town Wall is not as strong as others we have seen
This was not an ordinary city though. The town made Tyrian Dye, the expensive purple, which is harvested from the glands of Murex shells. At the time of Emperor Diocletian (we visited his palace in Split in 2019) one pound of purple dye cost three pounds of gold, It was the most expensive dye you could find. Assumed that this dye was exclusively produced in Tyros, the Phoenician town in today’s Lebanon. Apparently not so. The shallow Bay of Aperlai must have been ideal for cultivating Murex snails. Underwater excavations show that the snails were grown over 1’600 sqm of sea floor, a field of 40 x 40 meters. Quite a production site.
Murex based Dye came in various Shades - sometimes more reddish, at times more blueish
Tyrian purple was so expensive that it was coveted by the rich, powerful and famous. Alexander the Great wore purple for official receptions. The Greek rulers of Seleucia and Ptolemy Egypt dressed in it. Rome’s highest-ranking officials loved it. Senators wore togas with purple stipes. Caesar wore a purple toga during his triumphal parade after the conquest of Gaul. Later Emperors adopted purples toga as imperial dress. Justinian the powerful Emperor of Byzantium wore it. Charlemagne, who unified western Europe, was crowned in 800 AD in a purple mantle. The mad Emperor Nero reserved certain shades of purple for imperial use only. Why should commonors be allowed to wear it?
Mad Emperor Nero celebrating the Burning of Rome in his imperial purple Toga
Today, purple has mostly lost its symbolic power except for the catholic church. The official dress code for cardinals, the church’s princes who are appointed by the pope and who appoint a pope, still wear purple for official occasions. In a way, they continue the tradition of Roman Senators who were appointed by the Emperor and elected the Emperor. History does not repeat itself but rhymes.
Cardinals still wear purple Skull Hats (Zucchetti) and purple Waist Bands
With the Ottoman’s conquest of Anatolia and the Levant, purple was replaced by less expensive red and blue indigo. And slowly but steadily faded out of official use. But it remained such a powerful symbol that Queen Elisabeth I forbade wearing purple at her court. Never let rivals use the language of signaling. Wonder whether the people from Aperlai ever knew that their purple had such power. They definitely knew though that it was a good business to be in.
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