Blue

EGYPTIAN Ointment Jar in the Form of a Trussed Duck, 1991–1550 BC

Amulet of Ra-Horakhty as a Falcon, ca. 1070 BC–30 BC

EGYPTIAN Funerary Equipment of Thutmose IV, 1400–1390 BC

TO THE ANCIENT EGYPTIANS, colors were rich in symbolism and even imbued with magical properties. Materials were carefully selected for their color. Blue enjoyed particularly positive connotations, and because most blue stones were unavailable locally, the Egyptians went to great lengths to procure blue minerals or create blue substances for their artists and artisans to use. From a very early date (prior to 3500 BC), they were importing lapis lazuli from as far away as Afghanistan for manufacturing seals and amulets. Turquoise, also used primarily for amulets, was mined in the southern Sinai Peninsula. Between about 1800 and 1550 BC, anhydrite, a rare pale blue stone, was used to create small jars and vessels, sometimes in the form of animals such as ducks (see page 29). The invention in about 3000 BC of Egyptian faience, a silica-based nonclay ceramic material, gave the Egyptians a readily available means of producing objects like amulets, vessels, and small-scale sculpture with a bright blue finish, a method that was perfected over time. Blue glazes were also applied to scarabs and amulets made of steatite, a soft stone popular with Egyptian craftsmen.

Not surprisingly, the color blue was closely linked with the sky and with related gods and goddesses, such as the sky god Horus and the sun god Ra, both of whom were portrayed as falcons (see page 29). The image of the sun rising on the horizon, Ra-Horakhty, became a potent symbol of rebirth and resurrection. The morning sun was portrayed as the scarab beetle, Khepri. Blue scarab amulets and seals became ubiquitous (see page 33), and blue scarabs featured prominently in funerary ornaments that adorned mummies and helped to ensure that the deceased would be reborn in the afterlife (see page 29). The blossom of the blue lotus or water lily, which closed up at night to reopen in the morning, was closely associated with the birth of the infant sun god, and hence with fertility and regeneration. Bright blue faience cups and chalices were therefore not only attractive and functional but also carried a sacred meaning (see page 33).

According to Egyptian mythology, the left eye of the sky god Horus was lost in battle and miraculously restored. The eye of Horus, or wedjat, thus became an extremely popular symbol of protection, health, and rejuvenation. Wedjat amulets, typically rendered in blue faience or lapis lazuli, were among the most popular amulets throughout most of ancient Egyptian history (see pages 33 and 111). Such eyes also appear on blue faience plaques and openwork rings, though the rings would have been too fragile for everyday wear and must have been reserved for ceremonial and funerary use (see page 6).

The color blue also symbolized the life-giving waters of the Nile, without which Egypt would have been an uninhabitable desert, and the Nile’s marshes, which produced a large portion of Egypt’s food supply. Blue therefore became closely linked with life, and hence with fertility. Blue faience bowls, cups, and other vessels were often decorated in black paint with marsh motifs including plants, fish, and birds (see pages 92 and 64). The cow goddess Hathor, who personified joy, music, sexuality, and fertility, was believed to reside in the marshes, and she appears on bowls (see page 122) and cosmetics containers, such as a kohl jar of blue-glazed steatite (see page 137). Another marsh dweller associated with fertility was the frog goddess Heqat, a figure often found on amulets intended to facilitate both childbearing for the living and rebirth for the dead (see page 110). Among the most popular deities believed to protect expectant mothers and young children was the god Bes, depicted as a dwarf with a lion’s mane and tail (see page 170). Though not specifically linked to the river or wetlands, he is frequently shown as blue because of this connection with fertility. One resident of the Nile and marshes with decidedly less friendly intentions was the hippopotamus. Blue figurines of hippos, painted with aquatic motifs, were probably intended to harness the creatures’ aggressive tendencies for protection against dangers on earth and in the afterlife (see page 23).

Because of both its solar connotations and its relationship to rebirth, blue was an important color for funerary objects. After death, the Egyptians hoped to join the sun god in his journey across the heavens, as a result of which they could be reborn for eternity. During the Old Kingdom (2600–2100 BC), the mummies of elite women wore dresses and broad collars made of blue faience beads (see page 8), and in the Late Period (760–332 BC), blue beaded nets covered the mummies of both men and women (see page 34). From about 1550 onward, figurines known as shawabtis, intended to perform labor in the afterlife on behalf of the deceased, were produced in blue-glazed faience (see pages 150 and 157). Blue faience was also sometimes used to make the canopic jars that housed mummified organs (see page 35). Royal tombs such as that of King Thutmose IV often contained ritual objects such as model throw sticks, ankhs (the hieroglyphic symbol for life), and papyrus scrolls to help the king overcome obstacles en route to the afterlife, as well as shawabtis and ritual vessels, all in bright blue faience (see page 30). Faience was a relatively inexpensive and readily available material, not the sort of rare treasure usually associated with royalty, so its use in royal burials points to the material itself—or its color—bearing a special religious meaning.