NELC 150 |
Introduction to the Bible |
Slide 17 |
Purple-died potsherd (from Sarepta in Lebanon) and murex snail
shells, both from University Museum exhibit (Case 5, Panel 27, "The
Phoenicians"). The violet or blue-purple die from murex snails (found in
the Mediterranean off the coast of Israel and Lebanon) was the source of
royal purple and the die used for the "blue" cord in fringes prescribed in
Numbers 15:37-41. See J. Milgrom, The JPS Torah Commentary:
Numbers, pp. 127, 411-412, for further explanation.