The predatory sea snails only live in the Eastern Mediterranean and off the Atlantic coast of Morocco. The dye was known as Tyrian purple as a reference to the city of Tyre, in modern-day Lebanon ...

In Tunisia, Mohamed cracks and scrapes at snails to make authentic Tyrian purple dye. Farther south in Uganda, Akello pounds and grinds nuts by hand to make silky, luxurious East African shea butter.

The much sought-after source of purple dye came from one of the glands of a sea snail called the murex. This particular shade, known as Tyrian, was unusual because it didn’t fade and became more ...