25/02/2024
Color symbolism in ancient Egypt
The ancient Egyptians gave the main colors a symbolic value resulting from the perception they had of the natural phenomena in correlation with these colors: the yellow of the sun, the green of the vegetation, the black of the fertile land, the blue of the sky or the red of the desert.
For religious painting, priests generally allowed only a limited number of colors: white, black, the three basic colors (red, yellow, and blue), as well as their combinations (green, brown, pink, and gray). The painting is done by flat color; only the Amarna period will deviate from this rule by offering subtle gradations.
The white color ( hedj ) is the symbol of joy and pomp, but also of the ritual purity necessary for worship. It recalls the color of dawn, the light that triumphs over darkness. It also represents the white gold from which the flesh and bones of the gods are made. White is also the color of the crown of Upper Egypt, the hedjet, which fits into the red crown of Lower Egypt to form the pschent. White is also the color of the bands surrounding the mummy and, by extension, that of the shroud.
The white could be obtained from natural cerussite or calcium sulfate.
Blue (irtyu) could be obtained from calcium-copper silicate.
It could also be a symbol of sexuality between human beings.
Light blue is the symbol of air and sky. It is also the color of the god Amun who was, among other things, a god of the atmosphere. The god Min can also be represented in blue in his aspect of Min-Amin.
The dark blue of lapis lazuli is the symbol of the night sky and the abyss.
Turquoise
The turquoise blue is the symbol of the aquatic universe of the Nile, from which all life springs.
Brown is the skin color of the Egyptians and Egans, the Nubians and Sudanese being black. We regularly distinguish the male from the female by making the male's skin quite red-brown, and the female's pale ochre.
The color yellow (khenet) is the symbol of gold, the sun at its zenith and immortality. It is the color of the gods, whose body is in yellow gold (or white gold). The background of the decorations is sometimes painted yellow to symbolize a huge papyrus scroll, the container of the sacred charms that will be painted there.
The yellow could be obtained from the iron oxide found as rock in the mountains.
Contrary to Christian symbolism, black ( kem ) did not have a negative connotation in ancient Egyptian thought. If it is indeed the color of the night and the realm of the dead, it is above all the symbol of rebirth and fertility. Black, the color of the fertile mud brought by the annual flood of the Nile, is indeed strongly linked to the symbolism of rebirth. The silt deposited on the banks allowed Egyptian crops to be "reborn" after a season of drought when the plants seemed to be "dying". This mud, vital to a farming people, would give the ancient name of Egypt, kmt (kemet), "black (earth)". The color black is also used to represent the skin color of Nubians and Sudanese.
Deities related to myths of death and rebirth, such as Osiris or Anubis, are often depicted with black skin. Likewise, those related to fertility myths, such as Osiris or Ptah, are depicted with either black skin or green (another color symbol of fertility). Black is also the coat color of the sacred bulls Apis and Mnévis.
The black color could be obtained from galena (for makeup) or coal (for dyeing). From the 4th Dynasty, it replaced dark green for the shadows applied around the eyes. It is likely that it represents the color that naturally surrounds the eyes of the falcon, an animal sacred to the god Horus whose eye had a strong beneficial connotation.
GrayThe god Oupouaout is represented in gray, but it is difficult to determine whether this color has a different symbolic meaning than the black, or whether it is just an artist's "trick" to differentiate him from the god Anubis.
The color red ( decher ) is the symbol of violence, desert, fire, blood and death, but also of victory. It is notably the color of the god Seth, the destroyer, who was said to have red hair. The crown of Lower Egypt is red (although the north, especially the Nile Delta, is very rich in vegetation).
Red, like yellow, could be obtained from iron oxide.
The color green (ouadj) is written with the hieroglyph representing a papyrus. Obviously, it symbolizes vegetation, but also youth, health and regeneration. It thus shares some of the symbolism of the color black, and that is why certain gods, such as Osiris, for example, are sometimes represented in black, sometimes in green. Among the deities sometimes represented in green, we also note the god Ptah and the goddess Maat.
Green could be obtained from malachite or a mixture of blue and yellow.