THE IMPORTANCE OF BLUE

Ancient Blue, In the Book of Numbers, it is written that God said to Moses: “Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of each corner a cord of blue.”

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Blue Colors in Ancient Egypt

Blue (Ancient Egyptian name 'irtyu') was the color of the heavens, the dominion of the gods, as well as the color of water, the yearly inundation, and the primeval flood. Although Ancient Egyptians favored semi-precious stones such as azurite (Ancient Egyptian name 'tefer') and lapis lazuli (Ancient Egyptian name 'khesbedj', imported at great cost across the Sinai Desert) for jewelery and inlay, technology was advanced enough to produce the world's first synthetic pigment, known since medieval times as Egyptian blue. Depending on the degree to which the pigment Egyptian blue was ground, the color could vary from a rich, dark blue (coarse) to a pale, ethereal blue (very fine).

In ancient Egypt blue (irtyu) was the colour of the heavens and hence represented the universe. Many temples, sarcophagi and burial vaults have a deep blue roof speckled with tiny yellow stars.

As blue is also the colour of water and hence the colour of the Nile and the primeval waters of chaos (known as Nun). As a result the colour blue was associated with fertility, rebirth and the power of creation. Blue glass or faience hippopotami were a popular symbols of the Nile and the creator god Amun was often depicted with a blue face. According to myth, the hair of the gods was made of precious Lapis Lazuli (khesbedj). A number of Pharaohs imitated the god and were depicted in art with blue faces or hair.

In painting the ancient Egyptians made blue pigments out of a number of minerals, including azurite (tefer) and copper (bia). However, the most famous and prized pigment was "Egyptian blue" (irtyu) which was made by boiling quartz (silica) with copper (in the form of malachite), calcium carbonate and natron. This was expensive and tricky to make, but produced a beautiful deep blue colour which was very popular.

The blue depths of water personified the female principle, while sky blue was associated with the male principle. The color blue is associated with water, sky, all heavenly gods, fidelity, and faithfulness. For example, blue flowers, such as forget-me-nots and violets, symbolize faithfulness. According to an old English custom, a bride wears blue ribbons on her wedding gown, a blue sapphire in her ring, and tiny flowers of blue speedwell are part of the bouquet. But, in the English language, blue sometimes refers to sadness. The phrase "feeling blue" is linked to a custom amongst old sailing ships. If a ship loses her captain, she would fly blue flags, when returning to home port. In German, to be "blue" (blau sein) is to be drunk. Blue is the color of truth, serenity and harmony, and it is good for cooling, calming, reconstructing and protecting. Also, it is the color of electricity and spiritual energy. In ancient Egypt, there was no basic color term for "blue". Lapis lazuli was called hsbdj, and then the term was extended to mean, secondarily, the color "blue" (Robins 2008).The so-called "Egyptian blue" (jrtjw, hsbdj) (Wb. I, 116, 10-11) was made combining iron and copper oxides with silica and calcium. This produced a rich color, however it was unstable and sometimes darkened or changed color over the years. The gods were said to have hair made of lapis lazuli, a blue stone. Blue was associated with Amun-Ra, and sometimes with Osiris. The skin of the Egyptian god Amon was rendered blue. Originally, Amon was the deification of the concept of air, one of the four fundamental concepts of the primordial universe. Amon means "the Hidden One," as the air and the wind cannot see by the eyes. He was originally depicted as a frog-headed god and his invisibility was represented by the color blue, the color of the sky. Also, Ptah, Horus, Khnum, Re-Horakhty and Nuit were all often depicted with blue bodies. In the scenes of the "Opening of the Mouth" ceremony, the mummy and Anubis both have blue hair. In general, gods too liked showing themselves in beautiful attire. One divine epithet was "He, who is clothed in blue linen" (Hornung 1994: 659). Blue was symbolic of the sky and of water. In a cosmic sense, this extended its symbolism to the heavens and of the primeval floods. In both of these cases, blue took on a meaning of life and rebirth. It was naturally also a symbol of the Nile, fertile fields, crops, offerings and fertility in general. The phoenix, which was a symbol of the primeval flood, was patterned on the heron. Herons naturally have a gray-blue plumage. However, they were usually portrayed with bright blue feathers to emphasize their association with the waters of the creation. Amon was often shown with a blue face to symbolize his role in the creation of the world. By extension, the pharaohs were sometimes shown with blue faces as well when they became identified with Amon. Baboons, which are not naturally blue, were portrayed as blue, only to emphasize their connection to Thoth, which symbol was an ibis, represented as a blue bird.

According to ancient Egyptian mythology the hair of the gods was made of precious Lapis Lazuli (khesbedj).

Some of the Pharaohs imitated the gods and were depicted in art with blue faces or hair.

Amun was the Egyptian god of the air, sun and the sky. Originally, Amun was depicted with red-brown skin. However, following the Amarna period and the religious revolution involving the god Aten, his cult revived and he was painted with blue skin, symbolizing his association with air and primeval creation.

Hapi was the Egyptian god of fertility and the Egyptian Nile god who was believed to bring the silt to the banks of the River Nile. One of his titles was "Lord of the River Bringing Vegetation". The blue-colored skin of Hapi was symbolic of the River Nile and its associated crops and fertility.

Other gods associated with the River Nile were Khnum the guardian of the River Nile, Satet, the goddess of the annual inundation and Anuket, the goddess of the cataracts. Together these three gods were referred to as the Elephantine Triad.

The color blue represented royalty and stones of this color which included lapis lazuli and turquoise were the most prized of all gemstones.

Blue was often paired with gold in Egyptian royal regalia and jewelry.

The Royal Vulture Crown consisted of a falcon feather headdress with its wings spread round her head in the act of protection

The Nemes was the name of the blue and gold striped head cloth worn by the pharaohs as a ceremonial headdress.

The Flail held by the king or Pharaoh symbolized the role as provider of food for the people. The crook symbolized the role as the 'shepherd' of the people

The Khepresh was the blue crown that was worn by Pharaohs in battle

Lapis lazuli had to be imported from Afghanistan. The dark colored Lapis lazuli stone was often used to create the eyes on the statues of the ancient Egyptian gods and the death masks of pharaohs.

The magic Lapis lazuli stone represented rebirth and regeneration. The name derives from Lapis the Latin word for 'stone' and Lazuli from the name of a place where the gemstone was originally mined. It was believed to inspire courage.

The blue-green Feldspar stone was a symbol of fertility and was believed to bring good luck to the wearer. It was also the favored stone for the papyrus scepter amulet which was placed around the neck of the deceased on the day of the funeral.

The design of amulets created using magic stones were believed to harness different magical powers and the protection of various gods and goddesses.

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Blue was used for the hair of gods (specifically lapis lazuli, or the darkest of Egyptian blues) and for the face of the god Amun – a practice which was extended to those Pharaohs associated with him.

Turquoise (Ancient Egyptian name 'mefkhat'), a particularly valued green-blue stone from the Sinai, also represented joy, as well as the color of the sun's rays at dawn. Through the deity Hathor, the Lady of Turquoise, who controlled the destiny of new-born babies, it can be considered a color of promise and foretelling.

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Fabric found near the Dead Sea may be the color of tekhelet, God’s chosen color. The Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) has announced in a press release that 2,000-year-old indigo fabric found near the Dead Sea was dyed using a technique that may have also produced tekhelet, God’s chosen color in the Bible. The research was conducted by Dr. Na’ama Sukenik of the IAA.

Blue tzitzit and murex dye

In the Bible, a shade of blue called tekhelet was God’s chosen color for the ancient Israelites. Tekhelet drapes adorned Solomon’s Temple, and tekhelet robes were worn by Israel’s high priests. According to Baruch and Judy Taubes Sterman in “The Great Tekhelet Debate—Blue or Purple?” in the September/October 2013 issue of BAR, even ordinary Israelites “were commanded to tie one string of tekhelet to the corner fringes (Hebrew, tzitzit) of their garments as a constant reminder of their special relationship with God” (Numbers 15:38–39). The tradition of blue tzitzit still exists today.

But what was the actual color of ancient tekhelet and blue tzitzit? Was it a shade of blue or was it closer to purple? Blue tzitzit and tekhelet-colored fabrics were widely worn and traded throughout the ancient Mediterranean, but by the Roman period, only the emperor could wear tekhelet. By the seventh century C.E., with the Islamic conquest of the Levant, the tekhelet’s source and method of manufacture were lost.

A century ago, Isaac Herzog, who would later become Israel’s first chief rabbi, researched tekhelet for his dissertation. He concluded that blue in the Bible was a bright sky-blue derived from the secretions of a sea snail, Murex trunculus.* This species was known to produce a murex dye the color of dark purple. Decades after Herzog’s death, chemist Otto Elsner proved that murex dye could in fact produce a sky-blue color by exposing the snail secretions to ultraviolet rays during the dyeing process. Sky-blue tzitzit, then, could be made with murex dye.