Around 1600 B.C., paint-making was an art that became widely established in Crete and Greece

Phoenicia (which means "land of the purple" in Greek) was the center of the ancient purple dye industry, where "Tyrian Purple" was widely made. In Rome, a similar purple produced from the mucous of marine mollusks, required crushing four million of the creatures to yield just one pound of dye. Due to its great expense, this purple quickly became associated with royalty.

Around 1600 B.C., paint-making was an art that became widely established in Crete and Greece.