Evil

The Nile silt body of this jar is covered with a red ochre slip. For ancient Egyptians red symbolized the desert, fire, blood, and dangerous forces. It also represented life and regeneration, a necessary creative force to balance violent chaos to make an orderly world. The Egyptian word for red, desher, is the root word in the language for “desert,” “furious,” and “wrath.” To do red things” was to do evil things. red ink was often used to write the word evil, names of hostile monsters, and gods.