Al Thakira Mangroves Forest Beach

This guide to Al Thakira mangroves near Doha follows the ancient purple dye trade tied to Purple Island across the water, where people camped roughly three thousand years ago to crush a small predatory sea snail for a red-purple color that once outvalued its weight in silver. It traces the Phoenician legend of a dog's stained purple snout, and the Roman laws that eventually reserved the color for the emperor alone. Look for the crushed shell fragments still scattered along the tide line here.