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Closeup image of an ancient wooden Egyptian falcon. Researchers have found a way to repoduce the blue pigment visible on the artifact, which is the world's oldest synthetic pigment. (Credit: Matt Unger, Carnegie Museum of Natural History) =============================================================== In a nutshell * Ancient Egyptian artisans developed precise, repeatable recipes to create four distinct shades of Egyptian blue, the world’s first synthetic pigment, long before the science of chemistry existed. * The pigment’s iconic blue color comes primarily from the mineral cuprorivaite, and researchers found that even samples with only 50% cuprorivaite could produce rich, vibrant blues. * Modern scientists recreated...

The Metsamor archaeological site is located near the village of Taronik, in the Armavir Province of Armenia, where the oldest trace of human settlement dates from the 4th millennium BC during the Copper Age.In the Bronze Age and Early Iron Ages, the site became an important religious and economic centre, developing into a city with many temples and sanctuaries, fortified by a citadel and cyclopean walls, and an advanced economy based on metallurgical production.Recent excavations have uncovered a sunken chamber framed by large stones, containing the remains of a wooden burial and two skeletons who died at the age of...

It's no secret that people like pretty stuff, or that we like to make our worlds as pretty as possible. And for centuries, tons of people have used the mineral in this month's Rocks Box to paint the towns blue, so let's talk about some of the science and some bonus archaeology around azurite in art.Hosted by: Stefan Chin (he/him)The Most Popular Blue in History (Was Ignored By Egypt) | 7:01SciShow | 8.02M subscribers | 80,887 views | September 4, 2024

I never get tired of talking about archaeology confirming biblical history. So let's talk. Second Samuel 20 tells the story of a short-lived rebellion against the rule of King David led by a Benjamite named Sheba, a kinsman of David's predecessor, Saul. It's a short, almost enigmatic, tale involving, among other things, cloistered concubines, deadly beard-pulling, and an unintentionally—or perhaps not—comical siege scene that could have come out of a Monty Python movie. Comic or not, the site of the siege was a real place that testifies to the historical nature of the biblical narrative. In II Samuel, David, fresh...

...using synchrotrons to analyse the synthetic turquoise that was popular during the reign of Pharaoh Akhenaten around 1300BC. Archaeologist Dr Mark Eccleston... says Egyptian 'faience', a fine-glazed quartz ceramic of distinct turquoise colour, was a common material used in items ranging from simple beads to religious artefacts. He says while it was known that larger factories were used to produce the faience, his research has shown less prestigious pieces could also have been produced in ovens in household courtyards... "Large state industries were effectively sub-contracting labour and the household would get something in return, for example more food." ...Eccleston says...