The ancient Egyptians used mineral compounds to add colour to their art.
As a result, some of the colours are still vibrant and beautiful
thousands of years later. They made jewellery out of amethyst, garnet,
jasper, onyx, hematite, turquoise, lapis lazuli, copper, malachite (a
form of copper ore), gold, silver, faience and shells
Modern cultures consider many of the materials used by the ancient
Egyptians to be semi-precious (like turquoise) or cheap (like glass) but
to the Egyptians it was not just the value or scarcity of the materials
that mattered (although of course gold and silver were particularly
highly prized) but the symbolic meaning of the colours and the beauty of
the image that they could construct from it. Colours were not used
randomly, but were intended to convey meaning and imbue an image with
greater power. The ancient Egyptian palette was formed around six main
colour groups: green (wadj); red (desher); blue (irtyu or khesbedj);
yellow (khenet or kenit); white (hedj or shesep); and black (kem).
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The word Wadj (green) also means "to flourish" or "to be healthy".
The hieroglyph represented the papyrus plant as well as the green stone
malachite (wadj). The colour green represented vegetation, new life and
fertility. In an interesting parallel with modern terminology, actions
which preserved the fertility of the land or promoted life were
described as "green". Earth and fertility gods such as Geb and Osiris
are depicted with green skin, indicating their power to encourage the
growth of vegetation. However, the ancient Egyptians recognised the
cycle of growth and decay and so green was also associated with death
and the power of resurrection. Osiris was a god of the dead whose wife Isis magically conceived a son (Horus)
and the ancient Egyptians believed that he could help them make their
way to an eternal paradise which bore a
striking resemblance to their earthly lives (but without any pain or
suffering). This wonderful place was sometimes called "field of
malachite".
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Malachite represented joyfulness and was closely associated with the goddess Hathor.
Ground malachite was used as a pigment in painting and statuary and
malachite jewellery was highly prized. Eye make up made from ground up
malachite was known to defend against certain eye complaints and wearing
it was also seen as invoking the protective power of the goddess.
Hathor was also associated with another popular green stone, Turquoise,
known as "mefkAt".
The Turquoise and gold bracelet found on the wrist of Queen Zer is
the oldest piece of stone jewellery so far discovered, dating from
around 5500 BC. Turquoise was mined in Sinai and its blue colour
symbolised fertility, good luck, and protection against the evil eye.
The Egyptians also used glazed quartz to great effect creating brilliant
shades of green.
In the Book of the Dead, the deceased is described as a falcon with
wings of green stone. Because of this connection with Horus (the hawk
god) the "Eye of Heru" amulet, which offered protection and healing, was
often green. During the mummification process the heart was left in the
body and a green heart scarab was placed over it to magically protect
it from damage.
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The ancient Egyptians favoured the red stones jasper ("khenmet",
possibly from the verb hnm, "to delight") and carnelian ("herset", which
meant "sadness" by the late dynastic period). They also used sard and
glass to great effect, and made rich red paint from iron oxides and red
ochres.
Red was a powerful colour because of its association with blood, in particular the protective power of the blood of Isis. The Tjet amulet
(also known as the "Girdle Tie of Isis") which was placed at the throat
of the mummy was often made out of a red stone. The Book of the Dead
specifies that the Tjet
should be made out of red jasper, but carnelian and red glass examples
have also been found. The Tjet is not always red (examples in blue have
also been found) but many scholars link the symbol with the blood of
Isis and consider that it may represent a menstrual pad. The Shen
amulet, was thought to ensure long life. It was associated with the sun
god Ra and featured a red stone, often carnelian (although it could also
be a blue stone such as lapis). It appears as a disk with the rim
resting on a straight line, symbolizing the sun on the horizon.
The Shen represented eternity and as an amulet it was thought to
bring long life. The mummies of the pharaohs were interred with a
miniature heart amulet which represented the Ba and was placed in the
heart cavity with the Scarab. It was made from a precious or
semi-precious red stone and was thought to protect the heart. Small red
heart amulets were also worn by those with a heart condition to enlist
the god's help against their infirmity.
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However, the colour red also represented anger, chaos and fire and was closely associated with Set, the unpredictable god of storms and Sekhmet,
"Lady of the Flame". Set had red hair, and people with red hair were
thought to be connected to him. As a result, the Egyptians described a
person in a fit of rage as having a "red heart" or as being "red upon"
the thing that made them angry. A person could also be described as
having "red eyes" if they were angry or violent. Set was also associated
with the desert and foreign places, and thus with chaos and danger. Our
word "desert" is derived from the Egyptian "deshrt", the red place.
Red could be unlucky or dangerous. Lector priests inscribed
particularly powerful or important phrases in red and words describing
evil things and recording unlucky days were also written in red. In one
case an entire papyrus about Apep (Apophis) was written in red.
In ancient Egypt blue (irtyu) was the colour of the heavens and hence
represented the universe. Many temples, sarcophagi and burial vaults
have a deep blue roof speckled with tiny yellow stars.
As blue is also the colour of water and hence the colour of the Nile and the primeval waters of chaos (known as Nun).
As a result the colour blue was associated with fertility, rebirth and
the power of creation. Blue glass or faience hippopotami were a popular
symbols of the Nile and the creator god Amun
was often depicted with a blue face. According to myth, the hair of the
gods was made of precious Lapis Lazuli (khesbedj). A number of Pharaohs
imitated the god and were depicted in art with blue faces or hair.
In painting the ancient Egyptians made blue pigments out of a number
of minerals, including azurite (tefer) and copper (bia). However, the
most famous and prized pigment was "Egyptian blue" (irtyu) which was
made by boiling quartz (silica) with copper (in the form of malachite),
calcium carbonate and natron. This was expensive and tricky to make, but
produced a beautiful deep blue colour which was very popular.
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They used Lapis Lazuli and blue glass to great effect in their
jewellery. Although turquoise is often a beautiful aqua-blue, the
Egyptians associated it more closely with the colour green. Lapis beads
found in burial sites from the Predynastic Period
is evidence that even at this early time the ancient Egyptians traded
commodities with their fairly distant neighbours in the Euphrates
valley. Its dark blue colour symbolised fertility and good luck.
Feldspar was mined in the eastern desert. It is a lighter blue colour,
but also symbolised good luck and fertility.
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In ancient Egypt yellow (khenet, kenit) represented that which was
eternal and indestructible, and was closely associated with gold (nebu
or nebw) and the sun. Gold was thought to be the substance which formed
the skin of the gods and numerous statues of the gods were either made
of gold or covered with gold leaf and the skin of the god was often
painted gold in two dimensional images. The pharaoh's sarcophagus was
made of gold as he was thought to become a god on his death and he was
adorned with a variety of gold amulets and jewellery during
mummification and the deceased often wore a golden mask. A golden "Shen"
amulet was placed over the breast of the mummy to give the deceased the
protection of Ra and ensure that he or she would live as long as the sun shone.
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In the undisturbed burial of Tutankhamun
archaeologists discovered a beautifull solid gold and Lapis Lazuli
funeral mask as well as a 300 pound solid gold coffin and an assortment
of beautifull gold or gold plated funeral goods. The Twenty-first
Dynasty pharaoh Psusennes I (Third Intermediate Period)
was buried with a solid silver coffin and a beautiful solid gold mask
(pictured above). Gold was often paired with blue in Egyptian royal
jewellery. The popular Pharonic "Nemes" head scarf was composed of blue
and gold stripes and numerous pieces of gold and lapis jewellery have
been recovered from royal burials.
The anient Egyptians also made yellow pigments such as yellow ochre (an ore of iron) and massicot (an oxide of lead). By the New Kingdom they also used orpiment, a sulphide of arsenic. Yellow was sometimes interchangeable with white, which represented purity.
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In ancient Egyptian art the "colour" white represented purity and
omnipotence. White was particularly associated with symbolic religious
objects and tools such as those used in the mummification rituals, many
of which were made of white alabaster. Alabaster was highly prized by
the Egyptians because of it's beautiful shimmering white colour. As a
result, it was often used for ritual items such as the canopic chest and
offering vessels.
White was also seen as the opposite of red, because of the latter's
association with rage and chaos, and so the two were often paired to
represent completeness. The two crowns which were combined to form the
dual crown were the white crown of Upper Egypt and the red crown of Lower Egypt.
The holy city of Memphis was originally known as "Ineb hedj" which is
generally translated as "White Walls", and white garments and sandals
were worn to holy ceremonies.
The word "hedj" represents both white and silver. Silver was very
highly prized in Egypt, and fairly scarce. It was very popular in
pharonic jewellery, when it was available, and was known as "white gold"
(nub hedj). Silver and gold together represented the moon and sun
respectively. White paint was made from chalk or gypsum which were
plentiful in Egypt.
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The colour black represented death and the afterlife to the ancient Egyptians. Osiris was given the epithet "the black one" because he was the king of the netherworld and both he and Anubis (the god of embalming) were portrayed with black faces.
However, the Egyptians also associated black with fertility and
resurrection because much of their agriculture was dependant on the rich
dark silt deposited on the river banks by the Nile during the
inundation. When used to represent resurrection, black and green were
interchangeable. As a result, the gods Osiris and Geb were depicted with black or green skin to emphasise their connection with fertility.
Egypt was known as Kemet, "the black land" and it is though that this
was a reference to the Nile not a description of ethnicity. Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
was often depicted with black skin. While some have argued that this
was a comment on the fact that she was of Nubian descent, it is equally
likely that it was symbolic of the fact that she was the patroness of
the necropolis.
Black paint was made from soot or charcoal and occasionally from an
ore of manganese. Black onyx was a popular gemstone and Ebony (which
takes its modern name from the Egyptian "hbny") was also highly prized.
It was often paired with ivory to make beautiful furniture. Tutankhamun had a beautiful ebony and ivory senet board in his tomb so that he could enjoy the popular game for eternity.
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