Purple Comforter Sets
Purple comforter sets are ideal for your bedroom. The Europe purple has long been associated with status, wealth and royalty. In the far east, purple symbolizes health, healing and well being. In American pop culture, Bella Swan in Twilight New Moon had a purple comforter set.
Why purple comforter sets? What is special about purple? Purple has long been called the color of royalty, or even imperial purple. Byzantine and European kings wore purple to signify status. In ancient times, purple dye was difficult to make and therefore rare and expensive. The main producer of purple dye was the Phoenician city of Tyre. This city sat on the the Eastern edge of the Mediterranean. At one time, the Phoenicians were a maritime power in the Mediterranean.
The Phoenicians manufactured the dye from sea snails. The snails could be crushed or milked for a execretion that formed the basis of the purple dye. The snails were not large, so it took a great number of snails and a great amount of work to produce the dye. One historian notes that it took 12,000 snails to produce enough dye for a single piece of clothing.
The Phoenicians produced other dyes as well. The color today that we call royal blue takes its name from a blue Mediterranean dye. In addition, the Phoenicians our 60 second minute and 60 minute hour.
There is some argument about who invented the purple dye. Tyre was producing purple dye in 1600 BC, but it may have originated on Crete. A Greek writer in 400 BC tells us that the dye was worth its weight in silver. The bible contains multiple references to the color purple and its expense and association with the upper class. The romans used purple imperial and ceremonial robes. The Vatican and catholic church continue to this day to use the color purple in ceremonial dress. The Byzantine empire restricted the production and the use of the dye for the ruling class. The purple dye continued to be produced up to the beginning the of 13th century. The 4th crusade attacked Constantinople which was the seat of the Byzantine empire. This lead to economic hardship and the Byzantines could no longer afford to manufacture it. Of course, purple continued to be made elsewhere and remained a status symbol throughout history.
Read more about
purple and
royal purple at wikipedia.