Purple in Roman Egypt: Recent discoveries, technical, economic and social implications.

Summary The results of dye analyses that identified true purple, extracted from marine mollusks, in ten archaeological textiles from the first three centuries AD discovered in the Didymoi dump site in the Eastern Desert of Egypt are presented here. These results are discussed from the triple point of view of the biological sources of these dyes, the places of production and the technical processes used. The results of calculations of the quantities of purple dye needed to decorate the garments of which the analyzed fragments were originally part are then presented. They have made it possible to evaluate the additional cost of using real purple in the basic elements of men's and women's clothing of the period. By comparing this cost with other prices for goods or services, one can form a more precise idea of the possibilities of the diffusion of this prestigious dye in the different strata of Egyptian society in the first three centuries of our era.