- Mentioned in the infancy gospel of James (but… is it a dye or a drug? Additive?)
- Revelation 3:18 "anoint your eyes with eye salve so that you might see."
The Purple
"Pedanii Dioscoridis Anazerbei De Materia Medica Libri Quinque," an 1829 edition that includes the Greek text [ Perseus Scaife ]
2.4.1 πορφύρα καεῖσα δύναμιν ἔχει ξηραντικήν, θμηκτικὴν ὀδόντων, ὑπερσαρκιυμάτων δὲ κατασταλτικήν ἀνακαθαρτικὴν ἑλκῶν καὶ ἀπουλωτικήν.
τὰ δὲ αὐτὰ ποιοῦσι καὶ οἱ κ ἡρυκες
καέντες, καυστικώτεροι ὄντες, ἐὰν
δέ τις ἁλῶν πληρώσας αὐιοὺς ἐν
ὠμῇ χύτρᾳ πάλιν καύσῃ, ἁρμόζουσι
πρὸς σμῆξιν ὀδόντων καὶ
κατακαύματα ἐπιπλασθέντες.
ἐᾶν δὲ δεῖ ἀποστρακοῦσθαι τὸ
φάρμακον ἀπουλωθέντος γὰρ τοῦ
κατακαύματος αὐτόματον ἀποπίπιει.
2.4.2 γίνεται δὲ καὶ ἄσβεστος ἐξ αὐιῶν,
ὡς ὑποδείξομεν ἐν τῷ περὶ ἀσβέστου
λόγῳ (V 132).
κιόνια δὲ καλεῖται τὰ ἐπὶ τῶν
πορφυρῶν καὶ κηρύκων
μέσα, περὶ ἃ ἡ ἕλιξ ἐστὶ τοῦ
ὀστράκου. καίεται δὲ ὁμοίως,
2.5 μύακες διαρέρουσιν οἱ Ποντικοί.καέντες δὲ τὸ αὐτὸ
δρῶσι τοῖς κήρυξιν· ἰδιαίτερον δὲπλυθέντες ὡς μόλιβδος χρησιμεύουσινεἰς τὰ ὀφθαλμικὰ σὺν μέλιτι, ἐκτήκοντεςπαχύτητας βλεφάρων καὶ σμήχοντεςλευκώματα καὶ τὰ ἄλλως ἐπισκοτοῦνταταῖς κόραις. ἡ δὲ σὰρξ αὐτῶνκυνοδήκτοις φελίμως ἐπιτίθεται.
2.6 τελλῖναι νεαραὶ εὐκοίλιοι, μάλιστα δὲ δἐξ αὐτῶν ζωμός. ταριχηραὶ δὲ καεῖσαικαὶ τριβεῖσαι λεῖαι καὶ μετὰ κεδρίαςἐπισταζόμεναι τὰς ἐκτιλθείσας ἐκ τῶνβλεφάρων τρίχας οὐκ ἐῶσιν αὖθιςφυῆναι.
καὶ ὁ ἐκ τῶν χημῶν δὲ καὶ ἐκ τῶν ἄλλωνκογχαρίων ζωμὸς
κινεῖ κοιλίαν ἑψόμενος μετὰ ὀλίγουὕδατος. λαμβάνεται δὲ μετʼ οἴνου.
2.7 πορφύρας πώματα σὺν ἐλαίῳἑψηθέντα καὶ ἐπαλειφόμενα τρίχαςῥεούσας ἵστησι, ποθέντα δὲ σὺν ὄξεισπλῆνα
οἰδοῦντα στέλλει, ύποθυμιαθέντα δὲ ἐγεείρει τὰς ὑστερικῶς πνιγομένας καὶ τὰδεύτερα ἐνβάλλει.
2.8 ὄνυξ ἐστὶ πῶμα κογχιλίου, ὅμοιον τῷτῆς πορφ ύρας, εὑρισκόμενον ἐν τῆ Ἰνδίᾳἐν ταῖς ναρδοφόροις λίμναις· διὸ καὶάρυμρματίζει νεμομένων τῶν κογχυλίωντὴν νάρδον. συλλέγεται
δὲ ἐπειδὰν ὑπὸ τῶν αὐχμῶνἀνταξηρανθῶσιν αἱ λίμναι. διαφέρει δὲ ὁἀπὸ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς κομιζόμενος,ὐπόλευκος ὢν καὶ λιπαρός. μέλας δὲ ὁΒαβυλώνιος καὶ μικρότερος. ἀμφ ότεροιδὲ εὐώδεις θυμιώμενοι, καστορίζοντεςποσῶς τῇ ὀσμῇ.
ἐγείρουσι δὲ καὶ οὗτοι ύποθιμιαθέντεςτὰς ὑστερικῶς πνιγομένας
καὶ ἐπιλημπ τικούς, ποθέντες δὲ κοιλίανμαλάσσουσιν. αὐτὸ δὲ τὸ κογχύλιον καὲνποιεῖ ὅσα καὶ ἡ πορφ ύρα καὶ ὁ κῆρυξ.
Dioscorides "De Materia Medica", sections 2.3-2.8 talks about the sea mollusks and what they're used for. One word to describe them is "caustic". A translation of the Greek text yields that the porphura is desiccating. Like swimming in a pool of chlorine too long, you'll get chemically burned, or irritate the skin. It is low key corrosive. People used it to dissolve sarcoma (possibly skin cancer, maybe skin tags) and help scars disappear. You can use it on your teeth because it chemically cleans them.
This could explain what the mythologies and ancient texts allude to when they talk about "burning off mortality".
By day, Thetis christed Achilles with Ambrosia, and by night, burned him in a fire. Demeter burned a kid in the fire too, to make him a god. In both instances the process was halted in the middle of its completion, and thus stopping the process of making a god.
Is the "burning purple" burning on its own? Yes absolutely. Does the additional things added along with it, to "christ" someone causing a burning sensation internally? That could also be true. We're dealing with snake and scorpion venoms as well here.
Mary Purple fingers
Anointing of the eyes
Some analysis