Like you said it is assumed, which is meaningless.

No woman on earth is yellow skinned in the sun or in the shade and certainly not African women.

Women were painted yellow, IMO, to represent the sun as in mother nature, which is because all Egyptian cosmology were centered around the concept of trinity, which means man, woman and child. The child is the deliverance and victory over chaos and the new hope for the future. Men were earth colored because they represented the earth and the seed. These themes are echoed throughout Egyptian cosmology. Ausar, Auset and Heru. Mut, Amun, Khonsu. Satis, Khnum, Anuket. Sopdet, Sah and Soped.

In fact all the goddesses were painted golden colored for similar reasons. The earth and the seed as manhood was seen in the male deities Geb, Min and Osiris, who all were a variation on the ithyphallic principle of male ejaculation. Geb is often seen in intercourse with Nut, his wife the sky. From this pattern of intercourse, comes the children of Geb who are Osiris and Isis who take on similar patterns reinforcing the concept of father earth, mother nature and the risen "son". Osiris is the lord of the earth, vegetation and the seed. Isis is mother nature and the force of nurturing, Horus is the son brought into being and nurtured by mother nature. She comes down as a bird from the sky takes the seed from the earth and takes it to pollinated and bear new life, which is Heru the risen lotus, the hero or victorious sunrise. Similarly the seed of the earth comes forth from Geb and goes into the sky where it is again pollinated in the female reproductive system and brings forth new life.

Many of these triads all have Upper Egypt and Aswan as a sacred symbolic site because Aswan symbolizes the origin of the Nile river which is Inner Africa and the birthplace of mankind. I am sure that if the Egyptians realized the concept of male and female reproduction in nature as a form of biology, zoology and botany, they certainly realized that the history of mankind began in Africa. It represents the flow of life and the flow of creation as symbolized by the black silt from the fertile mound of creation, which again is inner Africa. So these are all potent symbols of biology, anthropology, cosmology and nationalism all in one. The sacred mound of creation was the central theme in the holy of holies in the various temples and often featured a symbol of the local trinity as part of the symbolism.

Therefore, the color black becomes significant of refreshment and replentishment and a connection to the flow of the creative force from the mound of creation at the source of the NIle. This is often seen in the new dynasties established after times of crisis. It obviously represents renewal and regeneration from the South and replenishment of the bloodline and the seed or new king. Hence, Mentuhotep is seen as black in the 11th dynasty along with having a great wife Nefer and other wives who are painted dark brown or black. This again is seen in the 18th dynasty, when the great royal wife Nefertari is seen painted black represents the mother of the dynasty and the refreshment of the royal line.




Edited 6 time(s). Last edit at 01/27/2008 02:21PM by Doug M.