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Debates continue as to whether Lydia used the Madder plant or the Murex, but either way, making purple dye was a difficult, costly, and time-consuming process. Though purple dye can be made from the madder plant, the only true purple colorfast dye known at that time was produced by the murex snail, a marine mollusk. This indicates perhaps that the purple-dyers may have also worked as a guild in Philippi as they did in Thyatira, and that their profession was held in high esteem since there was an inscription made and a benefactor to the trade. In 1872 Professor Mertzides discovered in Philippi the following text in Greek inscribed on a piece of white marble: ‘The city honored from among the purple-dyers and outstanding citizen, Antiochus the son of Lykus, ad native of Thyatira, as a benefactor.’ In another clue as to the tie between the purple-dyers of Thyatira and the purple-dyers of Philippi, we read in New Testament Cities in Western Asia Minor: Light from Archaeology on Cities by Edwin M. There was a close connection with the dyeing trade of Philippi and Thyatira It appears that Lydia was not alone in Philippi carrying out her trade, as Antiochos from Philippi was the first dyer to be a benefactor to the city of Thyatira. David Elton Graves of Liberty University, from his article What is the Madder with Lydia’s Purple? A Reexamination of the Purpurarii in Thyatira and Philippiexplains, It is likely that Lydia learned her trade there, though no mention is made of how or why she ended up in Philippi. Lydia was originally from Thyatira, a bustling merchant city of guilds. It is here that it’s mentioned that she was a seller of purple cloth. Paul found her in Philippi with other women worshiping along the riverbank. It is all the more remarkable that Lydia worshipped God in that Hellenistic Roman city. Proselyte was the name given by the Jews to foreigners who adopted the Jewish religion, but Philippi had a negligible number of Jews in the city, too few even to attain a quorum for a synagogue. She was a worshiper of God, which meant that she was seeking a deeper spiritual life than the pagans around her, though not yet a proselyte. Lydia is mentioned only a few times in the New Testament, in Acts 16:11-15, and v. Let’s look at the woman of Thyatira, Lydia, a seller of purple. What was a day in the life like for a person who lived in New Testament Bible times? It depended on what trade the person made their living.
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