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Breaking the Color Code
by Anita Stratos
If you walked into an Egyptian museum exhibit today, what would
you see? You’d probably marvel at the beauty of the handwork and
skills that created such intricate pieces of jewelry. You’d
carefully inspect the painting and carvings on various objects
such as amulets and pottery. And you’d be impressed with the
richness of color throughout it all. But even with all you may
know about Egyptian history, you’d only be getting half the
story if you don’t know how to "read" the color code.
Deciphering Egyptian codes – from hieroglyphs to the meanings
of amulets – is key in completely understanding the messages
left behind by ancient Egyptians. Symbolism was everywhere, and
almost everything they created had a deeper meaning, including the
gemstone colors of the jewelry they wore, the colors used in tomb
carvings, and the materials used to make amulets. Colors were very
important, because the Egyptians believed that not only did colors
revealed the true essence of a person or a thing, but they also
could provide them with protection or other magical properties. So
just what were these complex ancient people trying to say?
To the ancient Egyptians, color was an essential part of life.
If a god was considered to have no color, then the meaning was
that the god could never be thoroughly understood. The magic of
color dates back to prehistoric times. Red is referred to in the
Old Testament, and the Romans believed that the healing power of
coral came from its red color. Amulets were used throughout the
prehistoric world, but amuletic magic became an actual science
when the first civilizations developed in Egypt.
The Egyptian palette had six colors: red (desher), green
(wadj), blue (khesbedj and irtiu), yellow (kenit
and khenet), black (khem or kem), and
white (shesep and hedj). Most of these colors were
made from mineral compounds, which is why they retained their
vibrant colors throughout thousands of years. And most of the
gemstones they used were semi-precious and chosen not as much for
their beauty as they were for the symbolism or the perceived magic
they contained. Whether these materials were carved into everyday
jewelry or ground down and painted on tomb walls, their colors
were not used randomly. Great forethought was given to the colors
used on the deity being portrayed, the deceased person’s
afterlife requirements, or living Egyptian’s protection.
From ancient times into the 21st century, many
people have put their faith and belief in the power of gemstones
and color for various purposes: To attract a mate, for fertility,
for victory, to improve health – just about any need. In ancient
Egypt, both royalty and average citizens wore jewelry with
religious or magical significance; in fact, almost everyone,
including infants, wore at least one amulet. Wearing an amulet
made from a particular stone with a specific motif engraved upon
it would encircle the wearer with the magic of that amulet. For
example, scarabs were carved from many types of stones and were
worn to guarantee continued existence in this life as well as in
the afterlife.
As with most ancient Egyptian symbols, there are many
variations to the interpretation of color. Interpreting the
symbolism of colors used in paintings or on objects many times
depends on the context in which they are used, much the way
hieroglyphs are understood through context. Here are some of the
more commonly accepted understandings:
Green was believed to be the color of new life,
growth, vegetation, and fertility. A person was said to be doing
"green things" if his behavior was beneficial or life
producing. The power of green to guarantee new life or
resurrection is why many depictions of Osiris show him with green
skin, referring to his resurrection and power over vegetation.
Chapter 77 of the Book of the Dead makes reference to the deceased
becoming a falcon "whose wings are of green stone",
referring to new life and rebirth. Also, the common "Eye of
Heru" amulet is often green characterizing the color as one
of healing and well-being in its association with the eye. But the
most important green amulet was the heart scarab, which was placed
in the heart cavity in case something happened to the deceased
person’s actual heart. The heart was vital because it was
considered the seat of emotions and intellect, and it was believed
that the heart had a will and existence of its own. Several
chapters in the Book of the Dead are dedicated to the preservation
and protection of the heart.
Wadj, the word for green, which also meant to flourish or
be healthy, was used for the papyrus plant as well as for the
green stone malachite. Green malachite was a symbol of joy. In a
larger reference, the phrase "field of malachite" was
used when speaking of the land of the blessed dead.
Another green stone, which was a favorite among Egyptians, was
turquoise. The word for this greenish stone was mefkat,
which meant joy or delight. The use of turquoise has been traced
back to the beginnings of civilization. When the tomb of Egyptian
Queen Zer (5500 BC) was excavated in 1900, archaeologists
discovered a turquoise and gold bracelet on her wrist.
In ancient Egypt, if no turquoise could be found, glazed quartz
was used as a substitute. It was the representation of the color,
more than the actual material itself that mattered.
Red was a powerful color, symbolizing two extremes:
Life and victory as well as anger and fire. Red also represented
blood, and in Chapter 156 from the Book of the Dead (as translated
by Dr. Raymond Faulkner), protection is sought through the blood
(power) of Isis:
Chapter for a knot-amulet of red jasper
You have your blood, O Isis; you have your
power, O Isis; you have your magic, O Isis. The amulet is a
protection for this Great One which will drive away whoever would
commit a crime against him.
Mummies of the pharaohs contained a tiny reproduction of the
human heart, which was always made from a precious or
semi-precious red stone. This represented the Ba, and it was
placed in the heart cavity with the Scarab. The Ba was also
carried by people who suffered from a heart condition, or by those
who wanted to protect their hearts from injury.
The Shen was a very important amulet, which was associated with
the sun god Re. It appears as a disk with the rim resting on a
straight line, symbolizing the sun on the horizon. When it was
worn as a personal charm, it ensured long life for the wearer.
This amulet was usually made of either carnelian or another type
of red stone, and sometimes from lapis lazuli.
In its negative context of anger and fire, red was the color of
the god Set, who was the personification of evil and the powers of
darkness, as well as the god who caused storms. Some images of Set
are colored with red skin. In addition, red-haired men as well as
animals with reddish hair or skins were thought to be under the
influence of Set. A person filled with rage was said to have a red
heart.
For some reason, the red stone carnelian eventually came to be
considered an ill-omened stone. Its name, herset, meant
sadness.
Dark blue , also called "Egyptian" blue,
was the color of the heavens, water, and the primeval flood, and
it represented creation or rebirth. The favorite blue stone was
lapis lazuli, or khesbed, which also meant joy or delight.
It is thought that blue may have had solar symbolism because of
some objects made from blue faience that carry a solar theme.
There is also a theory that blue may have been symbolic of the
Nile and represented fertility, because of the fertile soils along
the Nile that produced crops. Because the god Amen (also spelled
Amon or Amun) played a part in the creation of the world, he was
sometimes depicted with a blue face; therefore, pharaohs
associated with Amen were shown with blue faces also. In general,
it was said that the gods had hair made of lapis lazuli. In a tomb
painting of the Opening of the Mouth ceremony, depictions of both
the mummy and Anubis are shown with blue hair.
Beads made from lapis lazuli have been found dating back to the
pre-dynastic period. Since lapis lazuli was imported from the
Euphrates area because it was not native to Egypt, these early
specimens show that extremely ancient civilizations had already
formed trade routes.
Yellow designated the
eternal and the indestructible, also considered to be qualities of
the sun and of gold. Many statues of the gods were either made of
gold or were gold-plated; in fact, Egyptians believed the gods’
skin and bones were made from gold. Tomb paintings showed gods
with golden skin, and pharaohs’ sarcophagi were made from gold,
since the belief was that a deceased pharaoh became a god. Some
chapters of the Book of the Dead require that funerary jewelry be
made from gold, and many golden mummy masks have been found. When
the Shen (see "Red" for meaning and description) was
made as a funerary amulet, it was always made of gold and placed
inside the mummy wrappings above the breast. It was dedicated to
Re and symbolized that the person would be restored to life and
live as long as the sun shines, rising again like Re himself.
At times the color yellow was used interchangeably with white,
and at those times it took on the symbolism of white.
Pre-dynastic Egyptians were already fashioning simple beads
from gold, but within a few centuries, goldsmiths became highly
skilled and were able to make amulets, diadems, pectorals, finger
rings, pendants, and every type of jewelry from gold.
Black symbolized death, the underworld, and the
night. We see this reflected in Osiris, who was referred to as
"the black one" because he was king of the afterlife,
and also with reference to the god of embalming, Anubis, who was
portrayed as a black jackal or dog. Because Queen Ahmose-Nefertari
was the patroness of the necropolis, she was often shown with
black skin.
In a rather unusual about-face, black could also represent
fertility and resurrection because of the dark silt left behind by
the annual Nile flood. From the most ancient Egyptian times, Egypt
was known as Kemet, or "the black land", because
of the dark soil of the Nile Valley; therefore, the color black
symbolized Egypt itself. When used to represent resurrection,
black and green were interchangeable.
White denoted purity and omnipotence, and because it
had no real color, it represented things sacred and simple. White
was especially symbolic in the religious objects and ritual tools
used by priests: Many of these were made of white alabaster,
including the Apis Bulls’ embalming table. "Memphis",
a holy city, meant "White Walls", and white sandals were
worn to holy ceremonies. White was also the color used to portray
most Egyptian clothing. Hedj, one of the words for white,
was also a word used for silver. When silver was used together
with gold, they symbolized the moon and sun. Because red and white
were opposites in meaning, they were at times placed together to
symbolize completeness.
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