Egyptian blue is the oldest synthetic material in the world — predating all other human-made materials except pottery. Its manufacture required understanding of chemistry, mineralogy, and high-temperature kilns. It was produced industrially in ancient Egypt for 3,000 years — exported across the Mediterranean world to Greece, Rome, and Mesopotamia. Its production mysteriously declined and ceased around 800 CE.

Ancient, stable, and otherworldly. Egyptian blue carries 5,000 years of human effort behind each particle. There is something profound about a colour that represents humanity's first successful attempt to manufacture something that does not exist in nature — the first act of synthetic chemistry for aesthetic purposes. It is simultaneously the most ancient and the most modern-minded of pigments.

Egyptian blue was rediscovered by scientists in the late 18th century during Napoleon's Egyptian expedition and the subsequent "Egyptomania." Recent research has discovered that Egyptian blue fluoresces strongly in near-infrared light — this property is being investigated for modern applications in bio-imaging and sensor technology, making this 5,000-year-old pigment potentially relevant to 21st century medicine. The same pigment that painted the eyes of Nefertiti may find new life in medical diagnostics.