(Post by A.D. Riddle)
The journal Hannon: Revue libanaise de géographie is published by the Lebanese University in Beirut. The cover of the journal depicts a map of Lebanon using the shape of a Murex mollusk shell—a pretty clever idea, I thought. The sea snail that calls these shells home was extracted by the Phoenicians to create a purple dye.
Cover graphic of Hannon journal compared to a map of Lebanon.
Murex shell from Sidon.
Three species of Murex at the British Museum.
Ferrell Jenkins has written several informative blog posts about the purple dye.
