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Archaeo-chemical analysis of Royal Purple on a Darius I stone jar

. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode array (PDA) detection was used for the microchemical analysis of a purple residue on the surface of a 2500-year old stone jar. This 30 × 37 cm pear-shaped marble vessel contains carved inscriptions praising the Persian king Dari...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Mikrochimica acta (1966) 2008-08, Vol.162 (3-4), p.381-392
Main Author: Koren, Zvi C.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with photodiode array (PDA) detection was used for the microchemical analysis of a purple residue on the surface of a 2500-year old stone jar. This 30 × 37 cm pear-shaped marble vessel contains carved inscriptions praising the Persian king Darius I and is unique due to the use of quadrilingual writings on a vessel of that king. The major colorants identified in the purple pigment are 6,6′-dibromoindigo, 6-monobromoindigo, and 6,6′-dibromoindirubin, with negligible contributions by indigo and 6-bromoisatin. This analysis establishes that a marine mollusk was the source of the purple pigment, which is the famous Royal Purple or Tyrian Purple of the ancients. A comparison with the relative dye compositions of various Muricidae species ( Hexaplex trunculus , Bolinus brandaris , and Stramonita haemastoma ), and with their newly formulated Di-Mono Index values, suggests that the biological provenance of this ancient pigment was probably an indigo-deficient Hexaplex trunculus sea snail. The entire exterior of the vessel – including its base – was originally painted purple by using a fresco-type technique. This is only the second chromatographic finding of a molluskan purple colorant in use as an ancient paint pigment and not as a textile dye, and the only example yet discovered where it is the sole paint pigment on such a large royal art object.
ISSN:0026-3672
1436-5073
DOI:10.1007/s00604-007-0862-4