The Ancient Egyptian colours
The dyes (dyes) which were extracted from nature
Whether flowers, seeds, tree trunks, or some insects and butterflies:
It is the oldest used in colouring.
But the ancient Egyptian discovered that it quickly faded, especially
When exposed to the sun… Go to:
The coloured materials (pigments) were mostly mineral (mineral).
And it proved to be much better than organic materials.
They differ in the degree of stability, lustre, and vulnerability
with water, solutions, or surrounding environmental factors.
Egyptian blue and green are among the most popular metallic colours
Which was prepared from sand, iron filings and sodium bicarbonate…
The most important colours are also red, yellow and brown
Which was made from other…
And the white was prepared from lime and gypsum…
Carbon black…
I will explain (in diligence) in a little detail.
The ancient Egyptian way of manufacturing and finding these colors
But first, we need to know that colour (ink or dye) consists of
Four main components
So that the ancient Egyptian could paint or draw with it on the walls
Or on the papyrus:
1➡ Dye and Pigments
Inks – dyes – coloured materials, whether organic or mineral.
2➡ Vehicle
The solvent is often water.
3➡ Bond
The binder limits the flow of inks and dyes and works on
They stick to the surface and are like glue, egg white and animal glue.
4 Dryer
dried like vinegar or wine.
blue
Blue in all its shades is an important colour for the ancient Egyptians
He is the sky, the Nile, the colour of many gods.
◼ Egyptian blue or (Blue frit).
Calcium copper silicate
The ancient Egyptian was grinding a mixture of:
Quartz sand
Lime (calcium oxide)
Copper compounds
And to which it is added
Alkali Flux, such as Natron salt
* It is heated to a temperature of up to 1200 degrees.
The blue is in its glass image because sand has contributed to its manufacture.
To a large extent, it is the largest colour affected by external factors
Especially the camera flash.
In some cases, cobalt was used in this way.
It is an element, in some cases, radioactive, so some interpreted it as the scientific reason.
Curse of the pharaohs.
◼ azurite
Basic copper carbonate CU3 (CO3)(OH)2
It was another source of blue in ancient Egypt, where
This compound was found in the Eastern Desert and Sinai in the copper mines.
The reason for its name is its azure colour, and one of its advantages is that it is not affected by
Natural conditions, but with intense heat, it turns black
It dissolves in acids and alkaline solutions.
The green:
It was an important colour as it symbolized eternity, rebirth and immortality
The ancient Egyptian considered it a sacred colour:
◼ Egyptian green:
Wollastonite
Calcium Silicate
The method of preparing it in ancient Egypt is similar to preparing blue
Except he added more lime at a lower temperature.
◼Malachite
basic calcium carbonate
copper carbonate hydroxide
It is also another source of green
It is also found in copper veins in copper mines associated with lapis lazurite and cuprite and was extracted from the Eastern Desert and Sinai…
It is considered one of the oldest metallic colors known to the ancient Egyptian after white.
the Red:
It is the royal colour indicative of victory and was frequently used to write on me
papyrus extracted from:
◼Red ocher
Hematite Ochre
It contains 20% of iron oxide, but some have proven that
Egyptian red contains more than 50% of iron oxide
Iron ochre
Which is found mixed with the child, and sometimes red clay is used for colouring.
The ancient Egyptians were able to extract shades of red and orange
Mix and change these proportions.
Yellow:
It is considered one of the important colours indicating the sun, gold and some cases
Women’s skin tone and extracted from:
yellow ocher
Native ochre or Lemonite ochre
It is found in nature in the sandstones of the Western Desert
It is also extracted from iron mines in Bahariya Oasis with hematite
And in some layers of rocks in the Eastern Desert,
It was considered its main source of ores and mineral deposits
Iron rust and may also be formed due to iron rust.
One of its characteristics is that it is not affected by acids or alkalis.
It turns red when exposed to high temperatures.
Orpiment
Royal yellow = arsenic sulfide
It was used starting from the 18th Dynasty, and a bag was found from it in the tomb of Tut.
Jarosite
Its colour is amber yellow
This compound was found attached to quartz in the eastern desert, and its use was in a small range in ancient Egypt in the era of the Old Kingdom and the era of the Middle Kingdom,
the White:
It is considered the oldest colour in ancient Egypt, where it was used in ancient times.
Pre-dynastic.
It was found in abundance in ancient Egypt in the form of:
gypsum = plaster “gypsum”
Calcium sulfate
It was found in many forms in ancient Egypt, and it was found mixed with sand “gypsum”, and it was found mixed with rocks with sandstone and limestone “rock gypsum”, and it was found in the form of “selenite” crystals.
Lime
Calcium Carbonate
It was found in abundance in ancient Egypt in limestone quarries, especially in Cairo and Luxor. And the most important forms of quick or unquenched lime and slaked lime saturated with water.
Huntite = Huntite
Magnesium Calcium Carbonate
magnesium calcium carbonate
This compound has been used from the beginning of the modern state and is considered.
Brighter and brighter than lime and gypsum and used to colour the gods.
Valley of the Kings.
This compound was extracted from lime, where the stone was crushed.