Carnelian

Carnelian

Carnelian, Hrst

To the Ancient Egyptians, color symbolized the inherent nature of the object depicted. The word for color, jwn , also meant the nature or disposition of something. Carnelian, as the other red hued minerals, symbolized fire or blood, strength and power. Red could symbolize the hostile desert or the uncontrollable natural forces. Carnelian was also associated with fury, passion or anger, seen as violence. DSr (dsher) , means red. The terms dSr-jb, , 'red of heart' and dSr-Hr 'to be red upon' (something or someone), mean furious.

The important phrases that needed the attention of the lector priests were written in red. Words for evil and for unlucky days were also written in red. One complete chapter of the Papyrus of the British Museum concerning Apophis was entirely written in red.

In the Hymn to the Diadem of the Pharoah, the ureaus, evoked terror in its name of "red among the enemies."

It is said in regards to Hathor that the color of turquoise appeases these volatile aspects of carnelian. This statement relates to one of the inscriptions at Denderah concerning Hathor's syncretization with Sekhmet as the furious Lioness stalking new victims in the desert.

Compared to a flame, carnelian repels the enemies of the gods as does the flame of Sekhmet:

j sxmt nb(t) nsr(t) aA nb(t) nsr(t) sdA tAwy n snDt.s

Oh! Sekhmet, Lady of Flame, Great Lady of Flame, the Two Lands tremble in fear of Her.

In the Temple of Edfu, Sekhmet is called, 'of the Red Heart' ie: furious one.

j sxmt dSr-jb

Oh! Sekhmet of the Red Heart.

Clearly Sekhmet is associate with the color red and hence with carnelian, the principal red mineral used by the Egyptians.

The saying "to have carnelian (red) eyes ", meant that one was angry or becoming violent.

jj.r.Tn Hrw xsbD jrty. sa.Tn Hrw dSr jrty sxm r pHtj

The Blue-Eyed Horus comes to you. Beware of the Red-Eyed Horus, violent of power.

The protecting gargoyle-lions of Edfu were said to have eyes of carnelian.

The word for amulet, sA or , is similar to that meaning protection. In Coffin Text spell 83, the deceased is to have over his heart a carnelian amulet in the form of a lion:

Dd Hr HAt nt mA-Hsw jr m Hrst

To be recited over the heart, a lion-shaped amulet of carnelian.

Perhaps the most well-known amulet was of New Kingdom origin. The tjet, or tjt , the Isis Knot symbolizes protection by the blood of Isis and supposedly represented a buckle or girdle worn by Isis. It also represents a cloth worn between the legs of a pregnant woman to prevent bleeding and to protect the child in her womb, or it may be associated with menstruation and the potential fertility of a woman. As amulets, the Isis Knot was worn by both men and women for protection.

Carnelian is associated with the brilliant redness of the rising sun in Chapter 108 of the Book of the Dead: Sobek, Lord of Bakhu, is in the east of that mountain. His temple is carnelian.

Also in the BoD is a spell (28b) to be said over a heart-amulet of carnelian, the red mineral intended as a protection for the dead:

r n jb n Hrst Dd.jn wsjr Anjj maAt Hrw: jnk bnw ba n ra sSm nTrw r dwAt

Spell for a heart of carnelian: Said by the Osiris Ani: I am the bennu (Phoenix), ba of re, leader of the gods in the Duat.

Glossary:

Andrews Carol, Amulets of Ancent Egypt, University of Texas Press, 1994

Faulkner, Raymond O., A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Griffith Insitute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1999

Gardiner, Sir Alan, Egyptian Grammar, Griffith Institute, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1994

Germond Philippe, Sekhmet Et La Protection Du Monde, Aegypitiaca Helvetica, 1981

Ikram, Salima, Dodson, Aidan, The Mummy in Ancient Egypt, Thames and Hudson1998

L'Univers Mineral dans la Pensee Egyptienne, Institut Francais D'Archeologie Orientale du Caire1991

Robbins, Gay The Art of Ancient Egypt,Harvard University Press, 1997

Van der Plas, Dirk and Borghouts, JF, Coffin Texts Word Index, CCER, Utrecht Universtiy

Wilkenson, Richard H., Symbol and Magic in Egyptian Art, Thames and Hudson 1994