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Re: mantle of the leveller
Posted By: Olorin (host217-36-200-114.in-addr.btopenworld.com)
Date: 2/12/2003 at 1:28 p.m.
In Response To: Re: mantle of the leveller (Ghôlsbane)
Kinda what the other guy said. ;)
Btw, doesn't eman Herodotus was the first to have purple.
: Well, I heard of the origins of this while studying
: Herodotus' literature. In Book 3 of his Histories, he
: tells of Cambyses' diplomatic expedition to visit the
: long-lived Ethiopians. Basically, he'd heard of their
: Table of the Sun, a mythical plain that brought forth
: food every day, and wanted to dig his greedy claws
: into this treasure. So, he sent envoys to the
: Ethiopian king, bearing gifts to win his trust. These
: included a purple robe.
: When the king receives these gifts, he pours merciless
: scorn onto them (apart from the wine), and asks about
: their origins. The envoys explain that the robe is
: made using a purple dye. My Classics teacher was able
: to explain that purple dye was of Phoenician origin
: and was made from extremely rare molluscs. The dye was
: therefore very valuable around that time (3000 BC).
: The ethiopian king, being lord over a very isolated
: kingdom, had no knowledge of the value of this
: substance and as a result sees through it to the
: insincerity of the maker.
: Well, Cambyses did :)
: You can read the relevant passage here:
: http://www.angelfire.com/md/Orastie/Herodot3.html#Herodotus.Hist.3.17
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