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. 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. 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 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. 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.
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