egyptian colour culture

8/7/2019 egyptian colour culture

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INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER

Egyptian is amongst the earliestcivilization which has a remarkable

history preserved.

For centuries they followed strict rules

over culture and art.

This culture later influenced the europe

, middle east asia and africa.After a point of time egypt itself was

under the influence of hellenism and

then christianity and then islamic

culture.

Thus , todays egyptian culture stands a

complex mixture of all these cultures

including the modern western culture.


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EGYPT PROFILE

RELIGIONS : Muslim -94%

christian,other-6%

Languages: Arabic (official), English widely

understood

Capital : Cairo

99% of the population lives within the Nilevalley and delta , which constitutes less than 4%

of the total area.


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ORIGIN

Egypt has a history from 3000 BC preserved in the form of pictures.

Paintings that decorated the walls of the tombs in Egypt were intended to keep

alive the history .

The pictures and models found in Egyptian tombs were connected with the idea

of providing the soul with helpmates in the other world.

The Egyptian painters had a very different way from ours of representing real life.

It was the artists' task to preserve everything as clearly and permanently as possible.

Every artist also had to learn the art of beautiful script.

He had to cut the images and symbols of the hieroglyphs clearly and accurately in

stone.


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Horus, the sky god, had to be

shown as a falcon or with a

falcon's head

Anubis, the god of funeral rites, as

a jackal or with a jackal's head


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ARCHITECTURAL CULTURE

FOCAL POINTS

Statues of Pharaohs and gods in temples, and sarcophagus in tombs dominated the whole

architectural layout.

Walls immensely thick and sloping - structural requirement for balancing (vertical

walls of stone are unstable)

Stone Columns closely spaced - Large spans were not possible

Stone Lintels - massive with short spans, stone is a material that has a weak tensile

strength


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TOMBS AND TEMPLES


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Flat roofs - Domes and vaults were unknown in Egypt

Small Openings

-

large doors and windows are not possible in stone construction, thisalso secured privacy to the religious structures inaccessible to the public

Hieroglyphs - recording of historic events in stone obelisks and walls

Religious symbols - ( scarabs , solar disk) essential component for the decoration of all

architectural elements


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Material for construction

Due to lack of wood in egypt stone was used mostly.Stone was used for tombs and temples.

Whereas sun baked bricks were used for other construction.


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Architectural colors

The colours used were limited to primaries of mineral origin: red from haematite, oryellow

ochre, burnt to redness; cobalt and copper for blue; malachite for green; orpiment for brightyellow, and were all found in Egypt.

Although the Egyptians used only primary colours they succeeded by the use of white in

obtaining many degrees of these colours. Purple, however, was used in their potteries and dyes.


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The only colors which were seen in the structures were brown , green , and yellow.


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Modern architecture


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Even today green , brown and white are

used the most.

The egyptian culture always had anearthy look which got them close to the

elements in the surrounds.

Even today the tradition is kept in mind

while designing an egyptian dcor,


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CLOTHING

Clothes from natural materials available in nature

Hot and sometimes humid climate-lightweight materials mostly made of linen which is

light, airy, and allows freedom of movement

Men clothing : short skirts around their waists called kilts..wealthy men wore pleated kilts.

Women clothing: straight fitting dresses with straps on their shoulders


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In ancient times white was

considered to be a symbol of purityand the best color for hot climate.

Color played its own role in

representing a persons status.

The kings and queens wore white as

a sign of purity and gold whuch was a

sign of supremacy.Whereas the poor man wore brown or

ochre color clothing in jute and a

black bead neck piece.


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ORNAMENTS

Color and wealth were displayed through accessories, mainly jewelry , which both men

and women wore.

The simple white pleated clothing was often richly enhanced with wide collars made ofshells, beads, flowers, and precious stones set in gold

Silver was the substance of the gods' bones and was mainly used for ornamentation.

The cobra, worn on both the crown and the hood-like head-dress, was a symbol exclusive

to kings in Egypt. And so was the ankh, which was a sacred sign of life.

The crook and flail represented authority over the land and the people. Amulets, such as

scarab beetles, were worn in life and then buried with the dead for protection.


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Both men and women wore the same type of sandals, made in a coiled technique using

grass and clean palm leaves, papyrus, wood, and goat skin.Only the kings wore colored sandals . They were usually green


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Beauty and grooming

Women lightened their skin with a yellow ochre colour. Men used orange-tinted paint todarken their face skin.

Black kohl or green malachite powder was used to underline the eyes. Eyebrows were

enhanced with grey powder.

Red lip gloss was mixed from fat and ochre. Rouge was also popular.


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ORIGIN OF COLOUR

IMPORTANCE OF COLOUR

integral part of the substance and being of everything in life.

color was a clue to the substance or heart of the matter. colors were clues to the nature of the

beings depicted in the work

Colours were meant to be more expressive rather than natural

The colours used were symbolic and all had different meanings.

most Egyptian artworks involve the depiction of many gods and goddesses

COLOUR IMPLEMENTATION

six colors white, black, red, yellow, blue and green

colors were generated largely from mineral compounds

Items with similar color were believed to have similar properties.

Colors were often paired: silver and gold were considered complementary colors (i.e. they

formed a duality of opposites just like the sun and moon). Red complemented white. green andblack represented different aspects of the process of regeneration


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PAINTING RULES

the sizes of figures were calculated purely

by reference to the person's social status,

rather than by the normal artistic rulesof linear perspective

Head and legs always in profile; eyes and

upper body viewed from the front.

male statues should be darker than female

ones

when seated, the subject's hands should be

on knees

Gods too were depicted according to their

position in the hierarchy of deities, and

always in the same guise Horus (the sky god)

was always represented with a falcon's head,

Anubis (the god of funeral rites) was always

depicted with a jackal's head.

Multiple lines or shape repetitions to

suggest "motion" or "many".

. When overlapping objects , colors are

alternated so as to differentiate each

individual


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COLOR SYMBOLISM-black

color of the life-giving silt left by the Nile

inundation

symbolized fertility, new life, andresurrection as seen through the yearly

agricultural cycle

was a symbol of death and of the night

Osiris, the king of the afterlife was called "the black one

Anubis, the god of embalming was shown as a black jackal or dog, even though real jackals anddogs are typically brown

it was also a natural symbol of the underworld and so also of resurrection

Black was often used on statues and coffins to invoke the process of regeneration ascribed to the

god Osiris

ANUBIS

OSIRIS

Black pigments were created from

carbon compounds such as soot, ground

charcoal or burnt animal bones.

CREATRION


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omnipotence and purity

. Due to its lack of colour white

was also the colour of simpleand sacred things

White was also the heraldic

colour of Upper Egypt. The

"Nefer", the crown of Upper

Egypt was white.

The name of the holy city ofMemphis meant "White Walls

CREATION : gypsum and chalk

Silver:

represented the color of the sun at dawn, and themoon, and stars.

Silver was a rarer metal than gold in Ancient

Egypt and held a greater value.

COLOR SYMBOLISM-white


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COLOR SYMBOLISM-green

colour of vegetation and new life.color of the 'Eye of Horus', or'Wedjat', which

had healing and protective powers, and so the

color also represented well-being

Osiris God of vegetation and agriculture was

often portrayed with green skin and was also

referred to as "the Great GreenGreen malachite was a symbol of joy and the

land of the blessed dead was described as the

"field of malachite

CREATION : The pigment green could be

produced from a paste manufactured by mixingoxides of copper and iron with silica and

calcium. It could also be derived from

malachite, a natural copper ore


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COLOR SYMBOLISM-blue

color of the heavens, the dominion of the gods, as

well as the color of water, the yearly inundation,

and the primeval floodBlue was used for the hair of gods (specifically

lapis lazuli, or the darkest of Egyptian blues)

for the face of the god Amun the god of air and

wind

Ancient Egyptians favored semi-precious

stones such as azurite (Ancient Egyptianname'tefer') and lapis lazuliAMUN


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COLOR SYMBOLISM-yellow

was the color of women's skin

Yellow was also the color of the sun and,

along with gold, could represent perfectionRealgar, which we consider to be an

orange color today, would have been

classed as yellow

Gold (Ancient Egyptian name 'newb')

represented the flesh of the gods and was

used for anything which was consideredeternal or indestructible

Whilst gold leaf could be used on

sculpture, yellow or reddish-yellows were

used in paintings for the skin of gods.


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COLOR SYMBOLISM-red

colour of life and of victory

normal skin tone of Egyptian men ,

without any negative connotationwas also the color of chaos and disorder

the color of the desert, opposite of fertile

black land.

was also a symbol of anger and fire

The hieroglyph for red is the hermit ibis, a

bird which, unlike the other ibis of Egypt,lives in dry areas and eats insects and small

creatures.

Seth while the god of victory over Apep,

was also the evil murderer of his brother

Osiris. His red coloration could take on the

meaning of evil or victory depending on thecontext in which he is portrayed.

fiery nature of the radiant sun and serpent

amulets representing the "Eye of Re" (the

fiery, protective, and possibly malevolent

aspect of the sunCREATION: naturally oxidized iron and red

ochre.


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Modern Alternatives for Ancient Egypt Colors


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COLOUR TECHNOLOGY

1. Color technology by using animal products

White color was created through trampled bone or ivory.

Black color was produced by the grime manufactured by oil lamps well-known these daysas lantern black and a rich furry black.

One of the first color inventions of Ancient Egypt was the colorant. Getting a dye to stick to

cloth or leather you need to apply a sarcastic like alum and potassium.

Once the dyeing practice is closed by, the mordant generates a solid squander which also

has the color predetermined on it.

One of the foremost tarn-tinctures used in Ancient Egypt was created from the driedbodies of female scale insects known as Coccidae and genus Kermes.


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Pigment invention by using minerals

A good number of tinctures in Ancient Egypt were obtained from minerals, compressed and

pulverized for usage with appropriate folders like egg-yoke and tree-gum. The cost of some of these gemstones is exorbitant.

A lot of minerals are comparatively static such as iron oxides, red- and yellow-ochre, copper

carbonates malachite and azurite, chalk and charcoal, etc.

There are three primary factions of man-made colors used in Ancient Egypt include minced

glass, oxidization manufactured goods and heat tinctures. 4. Egyptian Blue, a unique-glass

COLOUR TECHNOLOGY


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Egyptian blue color, a probable outcome of Ancient Egyptian glass is produced by warm

quartz, barren region sand, calcium, limestone, tiny amounts of alkali plant ash, potash, and

copper-carbonate especially malachite to a heat of about 900C and then sustaining it atbetween 800 to 900C for many hours.

COLOUR TECHNOLOGY


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COLOUR TECHNOLOGY

5. Emphasizing corrosion in Ancient-Egypt

Two gorgeous colors were produced through corrosion known verdigris and lead-white.

When copper plates are mainly concerned to acid billows, corrosion, shiny surface iscreated.

Corrosion and verdigris could be used for a blue-green tincture.

The corrosion entire procedure is relatively long-lasting since the strongest tart

obtainable to the Ancient Egyptians was vinegar.


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COLOUR CULTURE IN THE PAST AND PRESENT

PAST

Color was an integral part of the substance and being of everything in life. The color ofsomething was a clue to the substance or heart of the matter.

When it was said that one could not know the color of the gods, it meant that they

themselves were unknowable, and could never be completely understood.

In art, colors were clues to the nature of the beings depicted in the work.

Apart from these practical considerations though, it is safe to say that the Egyptian use of colorin their art was largely symbolic.

The Egyptian artist had at his disposal six colors, including black and white. These colors were

generated largely from mineral compounds and thus retain their vibrancy over the millennia.

Each of these colors had their own intrinsic symbolic meaning,. However, the ambivalence of

meaning demonstrated by some should be carefully noted.


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PRESENT

When looking at two-dimensional ancient Epyptian art, it is important not to make

literal interpretations about what is depicted. While pharaonic art is east to

identify, it requires having some background knowledge in order to interpret the

images correctly.

Viewers must keep in mind why the Egyptians drew and painted the way that they

did and how they kept their style consistent.

There are also other nuances in Egyptian art to keep in mind, such as scale and

color.

COLOUR CULTURE IN THE PAST AND PRESENT


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FUSION WITH THE WORLD

Besides Mesopotamia, a second civilization grew up in north-eastern Africa, along

the Nile River. Egyptian civilization benefited from trade and technological influencefrom Mesopotamia, but it produced a quite different society and culture. Because

its values and its tightly knit political organization encouraged monumental

building, we know more about Egypt than about Mesopotamia, even though the

latter was in most respects more important and richer in subsequent heritage.

The Nile focus also gave a more optimistic cast to Egyptian culture, for it could be

seen as a source of never- failing bounty to be thankfully received, rather than a

menacing cause of floods. Egyptian civilization may at the outset have received

some inspiration from Sumer, but a distinctive pattern soon developed in both

religion and politics.


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TODAYS PERSPECTIVE ABOUT THE CULTURE

The culture of modern Egypt is like any other cosmopolitan country.

Egypt has an interesting mixture of people of different cultural background. Modern Egypthas created a distinct cultural identity, keeping intact its rich ancient cultural heritage. This

combination of the old and the new makes the culture of Egypt unique and distinct.

A visit to any of the big cities of Egypt will show the influences of global culture on Egypt.

Compared to other Middle Eastern countries, Egypt is culturally much advanced. Tourism

being one of the major revenue generators for Egypt, the culture here openly invites foreign

tourists. The customs and mentality tends to be full of warmth towards visitors andforeigners.

Egyptian culture has many contrasts and contradictions between the old and the new. The

two cultures are vastly different from each other. But in its totality, the culture of Egypt has

successfully combined the best of both the worlds.

Keeping the charm and splendour of its ancient culture unharmed, modern Egypt has

imbibed the contemporary ways of life. Egypt Culture is a balanced culture, both in its antiquity as well as its modernity.


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