Posted on 02/04/2020 12:48:30 PM PST by SunkenCiv
As part of a DFG-funded project, a German-Tunisian team co-directed by LMU archaeologist Stefan Ritter has surveyed the ancient city of Meninx on the island of Jerba and reconstructed its trading links in antiquity.
The port of Meninx was unusually situated and well protected. Incoming ships first had to negotiate a deep and broad submarine channel in the otherwise shallow bay, before approaching the city itself via another channel that ran parallel to the coast for much of its length. They then had to traverse a wide stretch of shallow water to reach the city's wooden and stone quays, which extended seawards from the strand. From these piers, stevedores could readily unload cargoes and transport them to the nearby warehouses. We know all of this thanks to the work of LMU archaeologist Stefan Ritter and his team, which has allowed them to reconstruct the port facilities of Meninx on the island of Jerba off the coast of North Africa. The city was an important trading center in the time of the Roman Empire, and had commercial links with many other regions throughout the Mediterranean...
Based on their findings, Ritter and his collaborators believe that the city's prosperity rested in large part on a single commodity -- the purple dye, which was obtained from the sea snail Murex trunculus. "We have good reasons to believe that the purple dye from Meninx was not exported as such, but was used locally to dye textiles, which were then sold further afield," says Ritter. The material, which was highly valued, was apparently exported all around the Mediterranean littoral and beyond. In exchange, the inhabitants of Meninx imported foodstuffs, wine, fine domestic pottery and marble sourced from Italy, Spain, Greece, Asia Minor and Egypt.
(Excerpt) Read more at en.uni-muenchen.de ...
Purple dye, purple dye...
It had quite a purple reign...
Rumor has it that Harry is going into the entertainment biz to make up the difference.
He's going to call himself "The Artist Formerly Known As A Prince"...
But is it Deep Purple dye?
Serious question:
Ok, so the trade ships have to use these deep groves to avoid the shallow water, then cross “a wide swath” of the shallow water to access the docks.
What am I missing?
ISWYDT!.....................
Import/Export business? We may have discovered George Costanza’s roots
It's my own fault, I shouldn't have started...
If Jerba is the same as Djerba, it could very well be true. :^)
Smoke on the water?
Purple cloth was costly and prized by royalty all around the Mediterranean.
***the city's prosperity rested in large part on a single commodity -- the purple dye . . . the ancient city of Meninx on the island of Jerba***
The island was ruled by Jerba the Hut, who received his wealth and power from trade in the dyed purple cloth. Apparently his safety depended on bounty hunters.
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The rest of the Djerba keyword, sorted, edited:
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