Color in Ancient Egypt
I always enjoy the opportunity to learn new techniques, both in the knitting and crochet space. This latest project is a blanket made using the Tunisian crochet stitch. The method reminds me of a mix between knitting and crochet: you draw several stitches onto a long hook before making a return pass. Square by square, you work your way from the center outward.
Ancient Egypt is never far from mind, though. Even my yarn stash followed suit: blue, yellow, and green all hold their place in the culture’s art.
Blue 𓂀 Ancient Egyptians regarded blue with a special significance. Blue was a difficult pigment to keep stable until the Ancient Egyptians developed the first synthetic pigment, Egyptian Blue. You can find examples of blue from the day-to-day, like amulets and jewelry, to the extravagant, like the lapis lazuli and turquoise inlays in King Tutankhamun’s funerary mask.
Yellow 𓂀 Yellow appears throughout Ancient Egyptian art and artifacts. Typical depictions of people show men with red skin and women with yellow skin. Yellow pigments also stood in for gold when the metal wasn’t available.
Green 𓂀 Green represented both life and death to the Ancient Egyptians. As the color of vegetation, the symbolism for life is an easy connection. Death is a little different: The Egyptians frequently depict Osiris, the god of the Underworld, with green skin. However, if you dig a little deeper into the mythology, the connection makes sense: Isis brings her husband Osiris back to life after his brother Set murders him. Osiris may rule the land of the dead, but his green skin represents the fact that he came back to life.
Anna Pokorska wrote a great series on color in Ancient Egypt. I recommend that you check out her series, Color in Ancient Egypt, hosted on the University College London’s web site.
I won’t be putting this blanket in my shop, but I’m always open to discussing new projects.
A portion of the proceeds from each sale benefits the Theban Mapping Project Library, which provides books and literacy programs to the locals of Luxor, Egypt.
Facebook · Instagram · Twitter · Etsy · Web
References: Color in Ancient Egypt (Anna Pokorska, UCL)
Images © 2024 EEWL
#ancientegypt #ancientegyptians #egypteantique #anticoegitto #egizi #egypte #egipto #egitto #egyptology #archaeology #mythology #hieroglyphs #hieroglyph #kingtut #kingtutankhamun #tutankhamun #eewl #notjustknitting #fashion #fiberartist #yarnlove #tunisiancrochet #crochet #green #yellow #blue