‎Cecilie Brøns, Elsa Yvanez (eds)‎
‎Interdisciplinary Approaches to the Colour Blue in Ancient Egypt and Sudan‎

‎, Brepols, 2026 Hardback, Pages: 294, Size:216 x 280 mm, Illustrations:18 b/w, 143 col., 8 tables b/w., Language: English. ISBN 9782503620138.‎

Reference : 70617

‎Summary From the earliest days of Pharaonic and Kushite cultures, blue was a highly valued colour. Initially sourced in the mineral world, with stones of various shades being collected and used for personal ornamentation, and later from dye plants - whose blue hues required complex extraction - blue became a symbol of prestige and innovation. Since blue is relatively rare in its raw natural form, synthetic methods of making blue were developed early on, leading to the creation of the colour through crafts like faience, glassmaking, and pigment production. Made and used in different ways, and invested with many meanings, the colour blue became omnipresent in material culture and architecture. This volume is a collaborative anthology exploring the significance of blue in ancient Egypt and Sudan. It brings together experts from diverse fields - art history, archaeology, linguistics, textile and leather studies, conservation, and heritage science - to examine the Nile Valley's material world through a 'blue lens'. The book investigates the cultural, technological, and symbolic dimensions of blue, tracing how people discovered, imitated, dyed, painted, carved, and experienced the colour. Through integrative research that crosses the boundaries of the humanities and natural sciences, the volume offers a groundbreaking perspective on colour studies, revealing how the pursuit of blue drove artistic and technological advancements across time. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations Preface Acknowledgements List of Contributors 1. Material and Immaterial Perspectives to the Colour Blue in Ancient Egypt and Sudan Elsa Yvanez and Cecilie Brøns 2. What's so Special about Blue? Some Thoughts on Blue Materials and their Manufacture in Ancient Egypt Paul Nicholson 3. Faience in Kush: First Overview of the Material, its Meanings, and Significance Shadia Abdrhabo 4. Supplying the Mediterranean World with Egyptian Blue: An Archaeometric Perspective Alexandra Rodler and Ariadne Marketou 5. The Colour of the Monkey and the Background: Blue Colours in Old Kingdom Wall Paintings Kaori Takahashi, Ahmed Abdrabou, Yoko Taniguchi, Mostafa Shehata, Akiko Nishisaka, and Hussein Kamal 6. Ornamental and Scriptural Blue in the Ptolemaic Temple of Deir el-Medina Sandrine Vuilleumier 7. Eternity Under a Cyan Sky: Assembling Blue at 25th Dynasty El Kurru, Sudan Rachael J. Dann 8. Material and Non-material Aspects of the Colour Blue in Medieval Nubia Magdalena Wozniak and Dobrochna Zieli?ska 9. Blue Threads along the Middle Nile: Multidisciplinary Approaches to an Ancient Passion for Indigo (Sudan, c. First-Sixth Century CE) Elsa Yvanez, Bart?omiej Witkowski, Tomasz Gierczak, and Magdalena Biesaga 10. Green Is the New Blue: Coloured Leather in Ancient Egypt - An Archaeometric Approach Lucy Skinner and André J. Veldmeijer 11. 'Marvels from the land of Tefrore': Lapis lazuli and Dark Blue Minerals in Egyptian Temples Stefan Baumann 12. A Case of the Blues? Blue in the Egyptian Medical Texts Joseph Clayton 13. The Egyptians Didn't Have Blue - Because They Had Two, and You Should Too! Blue as a Witness to Cognitive Evolution on an Issue Dividing Anthropology and Philology at the Cost of Historical Linguistics David A. Warburton 14. Blue Eyes: The Apotropaic Qualities of Blue Karel Innemée 15. Epilogue. A Dyer's View on Blue: The Colour of Transformation Fria Gemynthe Index‎