INCREDIBLE EGYPTIAN BLUE PIGMENT RECREATED BY RESEARCHERS

Egyptian blue, the oldest synthetic pigment in the world, was created approximately 3300 BCE, more than 5,000 years ago. The recipe's intricacies have been lost to time for millennia, making it impossible to fully recreate. That has now been altered by a group of Washington State University (WSU) researchers working with the Carnegie Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian's Museum Conservation Institute.

According to a study that was published last month in NPJ Heritage Science, the scientists created 12 formulas for Egyptian blue by combining a variety of raw elements, including copper, calcium, sodium carbonate, crystalline silicon dioxide, and various heating techniques. After that, these mixes were cooked for up to 11 hours at temperatures above 1800 degrees Fahrenheit. After the samples had cooled, the researchers compared them to two ancient Egyptian artefacts and examined the pigments using contemporary microscopy and analysis methods.

The first author of the publication and director of WSU's School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, John McCloy, stated, "We think this will be a good case study in what science may offer to the study of our human past." "The piece aims to demonstrate how contemporary science uncovers hidden meanings in artefacts from ancient Egypt."

Egyptian blue, also known as hsbd-iryt, or "fake lapis lazuli," in Egyptian, provided a low-cost alternative to minerals such as lapis lazuli, turquoise, and indigo millennia ago. Despite its name, the exact hue of Egyptian blue used to decorate everything from wood and stone to beads and amulets can vary based on its materials and processing time, ranging from rich navies to muted greys or greens. However, the pigment gradually lost its use with the fall of the Roman Empire, and by the Renaissance, the process of making it was mostly forgotten, according to a statement from WSU.

According to McCloy, "there were some people who were producing the pigment, then transferring it, and then the end usage was somewhere else." "We saw that even slight variations in the procedure produced wildly disparate outcomes."

Actually, the results showed that only roughly half of the blue-colored components were required to produce some of the most intense, bluest colours. McCloy added that, in light of new, high-tech uses in our contemporary period, Egyptian blue has recently seen a "resurgence of appeal." According to the researchers, the pigment can be used for fingerprinting, counterfeit-proof inks, and other applications because it emits light in the near-infrared portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, which is invisible to humans.

"They asked us to create some items to display at the [Carnegie Museum], so it began off just as something that was enjoyable to do," McCloy continued. "But there's a lot of interest in the material."

Even though Egyptian blue has opened up a world of fascinating possibilities, it's crucial to respect the cultural and artistic value that it formerly held.

According to Moujin Matin, an archeologist at the University of Western Ontario who was not involved in the latest study, "the manufacture of Egyptian blue was a very complicated process, made possible only within a well developed cultural and technological environment," Chemistry World said. "Blue's cultural significance stemmed from its prevalence in religious symbols and everyday life, which ensured the pigment's continued usage and worth."

Currently on exhibit at the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the samples created by WSU will shortly be included in the museum's new permanent gallery devoted to ancient Egypt. To learn more about the entire study, go to NPJ Heritage Science.