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“ have continual warre against Dragons, which desire their blood, because it is very cold: and therefore the Dragon lying awaite as the Elephant passeth by, windeth his taile, being of exceeding length, about the hinder legs of the Elephant, and when the Elephant waxeth faint, he falleth down on the serpent, being now full of blood, and with the poise of his body breaketh him: so that his owne blood with the blood of the Elephant runneth out of him mingled together, which being colde, is congealed into that substance which the Apothecaries call Sanguis Draconis, that is Dragons blood, otherwise called Cinnabaris.”Īs freaking exciting as a battle between an elephant and dragon would be, the pigment was in actuality made from a Southeast Asian tree - though the story certainly helped hype it to outside buyers, and its blood red color was popular in the ancient world. The pigment known as Dragon’s Blood had the most epic and ridiculous of origin stories, a supposed mix of actual dragon’s blood and elephant’s blood. Andrew Dalby’s Dangerous Tastes chronicles this incredible story from the 16th century navigator Richard Eden: Melqart immediately dyed a gown with the extract from the dog’s mouth and presented it to Tyros.Mural in the Villa of Mysteries in Pompeii, said to incorporate the Dragon’s Blood pigment. When the dog bit into a large sea snail, its mouth was stained purple. According to the legend recorded by the Greek scholar Julius Pollux in the 2nd century CE, the dye was discovered by the Phoenician god Melqart while walking along the seashore with his dog and the nymph Tyros. Tyrian purple dye was first manufactured by the Phoenicians in the 16th century BCE.

Because the materials were smelly, the places where Tyrian purple dye was manufactured were usually located downwind of towns and cities.

The pot was heated slowly for about ten days until the mixture turned a reddish-purple color.

Next, the glands were extracted and placed in a lead pot filled with brine.

According to the Roman author Pliny the Elder, thousands of snails were needed to produce just one ounce of dye.

First, the sea snails had to be harvested.

The source of the dye was the mucus produced by predatory sea snails found in the Mediterranean Sea. Tyrian purple dye was so costly because it was difficult to make. In Rome during the 1st century CE, a pound of Tyrian purple dye cost about half a Roman soldier’s annual salary, or the equivalent of the cost of a diamond engagement ring today. The Greeks called this region "Phoenicia," a name that is believed to mean "land of purple." Purple was an expensive color.

The finest purple dye came from the coastal city of Tyre in what is now Lebanon. Creating Purple Lararium (household shrine) from the House of the Vettii at Pompeii