The Search for Egyptian Blue

Today my daughter came home from school and began to teach me about the origins of writing in Mesopotamia and the origin of civilization. I asked her about Odivie Gorge and Napta Playa and its proximity to Mesopotamia. She began to explain to me the 8 litmus test for a civilized society. So therefore, not all people were civilized or contributed of civilization. Having been a student of anthropology at Vanderbilt I understand these teachings, however they do not seem to be comprehensive or logical.

I like to look at cultural continuity. Like through linguistics or culinary taste or color choice. Such as my favorite color, blue. Blue has been noted as possibly the earliest artificial pigment ever produced. Made by sand, lime, and copper (CaCuSi₄O₁₀) or another site says calcium, copper (may contain metal or malachite), silica sand and soda. . And this began in Africa. At least by the Old Kingdom, more likely Naqada period, depending on if the source is also referencing Mesopotamia. I try to focus on developments of the Old Kingdom and prior in this blog, because it was one of the highest times of notoriety for Seshat before the role of woman changed in much Africa. Interestingly enough, this Old Kingdom blue was also found in the Parthenon, of which we have a replica here in Nashville with Nike & Athena, along with a huge obelisk and river out front. Its also found in the Near East, Mediterranean, Pompeii, China, Mesopotamian inlays, on Artemis and Iris, the Byzantine fresco The Ascension of Christ, in a mural altarpiece in the Church of Sant Pere Terassa in Spain, terra cotta warriors, and the Mayan's blue come to mind, but I will have to look up the ingredients there to be sure its the same. "The precision and relative complexity of the procedure which must be followed to produce Egyptian blue therefore suggests that the ancient Egyptians’ grasp of chemistry was extraordinarily well advanced."

The photo or visible-induced infrared luminescence of African blue or Han blue and purple is intriguing to me. They emit infrared radiation when excited in the visible range. This is giving science the ability to reexamine ancient art to see the color that has faded. It also gives us the ability to see in "black & white" how intrinsically connected civilized cultures are through the cultural continuity of the use of this pigment. Science is also using it as a form of technology transfer and considering its usage in the application of things that need an extra layer of security, such as currency.