Iwen: the color worship for the Ancient Egyptians

Painting depicting the god Osiris (in the center) and the goddesses Isis and Nephtis (right). The image emphasizes the differences of flesh of the subjects represented: Isis and Nephtis have a golden skin, which symbolizes their immortality, while Osiris shows his hands and face colored green, reflecting his resurrection.

For the ancient Egyptians the color, identified with the term iwen, was considered as a strongly symbolic element, so much to be communicative and full of meaning as the image itself. In Egypt there were many places to extract pigments: copper mines in the Sinai, ochres widespread throughout the region, while in the oasis by Wadi Natrun the sodium salts used to synthesize the Egyptian blue were present. 

The Egyptians' palette consisted mainly of six colors: white, red, yellow, blue, green and black. Mixing various pigments, new shades could be obtained, such as pink and purple. Each of the main colors had its own reference term and a clear symbolic meaning. 

The white color (hedj or khdj) indicated principally the concepts of light, purity and sacredness: in fact, some of the objects used in religious ceremonies, such as sandals and priestly robes, are depicted in white. The most used white pigments were gypsum and limestone, abundant in the Egyptian territory. However, they also used the white lead and more rarely the huntite. 

The red color (deshr) had an ambivalent meaning for the Egyptians. On the one hand it represented victory and life. During the celebrations, the Egyptians used to dye their body with red pigments and wear amulets in carnelian, a gem with a characteristic dark red color. Moreover, it was the color that par excellence symbolized Rha, the god of the sun. On the other hand, it could indicate evil or danger, as it is the color of fire, which can have a destructive outcome on homes and on crops. On the papyri, the red pigments were used to indicate the unfortunate days or the names of people or dangerous gods. In the iconography, the evil god Seth, the murderer of his brother Osiris, was often depicted with red eyes and hair. The red pigment most used was the red ochre; cinnabar, minio, realgar and madder lake were also used. 

The yellow color (khenet - a term strictly referring to yellow ochre) symbolized the concept of indestructibility and eternity. It is the color of the sun and gold, and the Egyptians used to paint the skin of the gods with gold. In the paintings of the Egyptian tombs, often the pharaoh is also painted in this shade, to testify that after death he too became the new Osiris and therefore a new god. The yellow pigment most used was the yellow ochre, very available throughout the territory. Also used were orpiment, sometimes jarosite and gold, applied in very thin leaves were also used. 

The blue color (irtiu or sbedju) symbolized the sky and especially the water: more generally it was associate with the Nile and the fertility derived from its floods. Moreover, it symbolized life and rebirth: not surprisingly, the god Amon is represented with the skin and the face in blue, given that for Egyptian religion he was considered the creator of all things, the person responsible for the weather and atmospheric events. Even the god Thot, characterized by the face of a heron, is often painted in blue and, in the iconography, all the herons are painted in the same shade. The most common blue pigments were lapis lazuli, azurite and turquoise. The best known, however, is the Egyptian blue, the first synthesis pigment made in history, produced using cuprorivaite, glass and quartz. 

The green color (wadhj) represents the color of growth and life, as well as of resurrection. The god Osiris is often depicted with green skin, since he was first killed by his brother Seth and then returned to life. It is also the color of other gods, such as Hator and Wadjet. The green pigments used were the malachite, the verdigris and the Egyptian green, created synthetically like the Egyptian blue. The green was created by mixing the Egyptian blue with orpiment or yellow ochre. 

The black color (km) symbolized Egypt itself, as it reminded the color of the Nile's silt: in fact, to indicate the region, the term Kemet was often used, that is black earth. It was also connected to the concepts of regeneration and fertility, but also to the night and the world of the Underworld: for this reason the deities associated with this meaning were painted with black, such as the jackal god Anubis, often also called kmj, " the black". The pigments used to make black are basically carbon black and wood black, although ivory black and pyrolusite may have been used, albeit to a lesser extent, in addition to bitumen and galena. 

Tiziana 

 - Lia Luzzato, Renata Pompas, Il significato dei colori nelle civiltà antiche, Roma, Bompiani, 2001: https://www.ibs.it/significato-dei-colori-nelle-civilta-libro-lia-luzzatto-renata pompas/e/9788845291272 

- Elisabeth West Fitzhugh, Artists’ Pigments: A Handbook of Their History and Characteristics (Vol. 3), Washington, National Gallery of Art and New York, Oxford University Press, 1997: https://www.amazon.com/Artists-Pigments-Handbook-History-Characteristics/dp/0894682563 

- W. V. Davies, Colour & Painting in Ancient Egypt, London, British Museum Press, 2001: https://www.amazon.com/Colour-Painting-Ancient-Egypt-Davies/dp/0714119288