Egyptian Blue is a soft smoky blue hue considered the world's first synthetic color. The original formula to create Egyptian blue pigment is not preserved. Although Egyptian blue is used since the Fourth Dynasty (c. 2600 BCE), it falls out of favor in Roman times c 400 CE.
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Using period and modern analytic resources scientists are able to reconstruct the color Egyptian Blue. The first record of the name comes from England in 1809.
The ancient Egyptian word wꜣḏ translates as blue, blue-green, and green. Egyptian blue is made of silica, lime, copper and an alkali or salt.
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A calcium-copper tetrasilicate like talc, the pigment has the same chemical composition as the naturally occurring blue mineral cuprorivaite (CaCuSi4O10). In this way scientists are able to break it down to known components.
In the ancient Egyptian language the color is called ḫsbḏ-ỉrjt (khesbedj irtiu), which refers to artificial lapis lazuli (ḫsbḏ). In the ancient world Egyptian blue is popular as a versatile blue pigment.
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It's used to color different media such as stone, wood, plaster, textiles and papyrus. As a dye Egyptian blue is used for cotton, flax (linen) and hemp, all of which Egypt is producing by the third millennium BCE.
Egyptian blue is also used in the production of objects such as cylinder seals, beads, scarabs, inlays, pots, and statuettes. It's found in tomb paintings and home decor.
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In ceramics it may be used to glaze pottery. It's easy to confuse with Egyptian blue faience (above), which is more a process of creation rather a specific color.
The Egyptian blue hue comes from copper, which is also used for green tints and dyes. A favorite copper-bearing green stone is malachite.
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Copper is also responsible for the colors of turquoise, azurite and the blue blood of lobsters. The brilliant blue of lapis (lazurite) comes not from copper but a sulfur reaction.
Although enamored of the colors of such gems as turquoise and azurite the Egyptians have limited resources and demand is rising. While turquoise is mined in Egypt it's expensive and heavily used for trade.
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In order to meet the demand for these colors, Egyptians have to find a solution. They put their extensive metal and mineral expertise to work to create the pigment synthetically.
Naturally there is a period of trial and error. Experimentation with metals and mixtures forms the base of alchemy, another branch in which ancient Egyptians come to excel.
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No written information exists in ancient Egyptian texts about the manufacture of Egyptian blue. The ingredients and process would have been a well-kept secret.
Egyptian blue is first mentioned in Roman literature by architect engineer Vitruvius in the first century BCE. He calls it caeruleum (sky blue). Later it's Anglicized to cerulean.
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In his work De architectura Vitruvius describes how the color is produced. Sand, copper and natron (natural baking soda) are ground together, shaped into balls and heated at high temperatures in a furnace. Lime is needed and scholars believe lime-rich sand is used.
In the 4th century BCE Greek philosopher Theophrastus calls the color κύανος (kyanos, blue), a name previously used for lapis lazuli. From this comes cyan. However, the term for the poison cyanide applies to the element extracted from Prussian blue c. 1800 CE.
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Egyptian blue is formed into cakes of pigment ready for the market. Processing tools to create the color are found in excavations such as Qatar and Amarna. Blue color cakes appear in Libya.
Artifacts of Egyptian blue are found in West Asia and the Mediterranean. Sometimes scrap bronze metal is used in the manufacture, apparent by minute particles of tin. A vessel of unused pigment is discovered at Pompeii.
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Egyptian blue pigments or pots of paint are common grave goods for artisan painters in the ancient world. The color is found in Etruscan wall paintings. During the Renaissance, Raphael uses Egyptian blue in his famous painting Triumph of Galatea.
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