![]() ![]() Apart from Egypt, it has also been found in the Near East, the Eastern Mediterranean and at the limits of the Roman Empire. Its characteristic blue color, resulting from one of its main components - copper, ranges from a light to a dark hue, depending on differential processing and composition. Some have argued that this is an erroneous term that should be reserved for use to describe the initial phase of glass or glaze production (Lee & Quirke 2000) while others argue that Egyptian blue is a frit in both the fine and coarse form since it is a product of solid state reaction (Nicholson & Henderson 2000). It is also sometimes referred to in Egyptological literature as blue frit. ![]() It was utilized in antiquity – 1) as a blue pigment to color a variety of different mediums such as stone, wood, plaster, papyrus and canvas - 2) and in the production of numerous types of objects, including cylinder seals, beads, scarabs, inlays, pots and statuettes. ![]() The term for it in the Egyptian language is hsbd, meaning both Egyptian blue and semi-precious lapis lazuli along with its imitations. It occurs in Egypt during the 3rd millennium BC and is the first synthetic pigment to have been produced there, continuing in use until the end of the Greco-Roman period (332 BC- 395 AD). ![]() It is a calcium-copper tetrasilicate CaCuSi 4O 10, and is of the exact same composition as the naturally occurring mineral cuprorivaite. 6 Connections with Other Vitreous Material and With MetalsĮgyptian blue is a synthetic blue pigment made up of a mixture of silica, lime, copper and alkali. ![]()
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