Being Green

Standing, looking round the vaulted cellar, I still remember when this dusty white space was just that – dusty and unused, filled with upside down jumble. This is an old part of the Castle, so much so that nearby, in another part of these cellars, we found the remains of foundations from the palace of William of Wykeham which stood on this site during the 14^th century.

Once upon a time, this was the white wine cellar but, clearing it out, sadly I found no wine of any sort, just broken chairs and other similar detritus dumped here over the years. Today, it has once again been painted an off white but this time it has been deliberately distressed and scattered with splodges to make it look a bit mouldy and worn. Obviously, it is neither but Geordie and I hoped it might make you feel as if you were standing in Tutankhamun’s tomb, 5,000 miles away and 3,500 years old.

The cellars are the perfect place for our Tutankhamun exhibition. Filled with replicas of the original items found in the tomb, the low ceilings of the small interconnecting rooms give the impression that you only need to stretch out an arm and you could touch the exhibits. The longest area of wall is painted with the scene in which Tutankhamun is commended on his journey to the afterlife by his successor as Pharoah, Ay. Leaving the Valley of the Kings, he passes through the hours of the night with the help of the Goddess Nut to the embrace of Osiris in the next world, the world of rebirth and resurrection, the world eternal.

The frieze is a vivid reminder of the colour of this ancient world. Osiris stands in front of Tutankhamun to welcome him, easily recognised by his green face. Then as now, different colours had various meanings. The colour green, as you would expect, was associated with life and vegetation, the renewal of the land brought by the flooding and retreat of the river Nile each year.

Osiris represents not just death but fertility and the afterlife. The green pigment was made from a mineral called malachite and the ancient Egyptian word for green is “Wajd” the hieroglyph being a papyrus stem and frond. Wajd with three dots (grains of sand) “wahdj” underneath then means malachite. The “Field of Malachite” was an epithet for the Egyptian afterlife, a beautiful paradise of peace.

Green was also the colour of the “Eye of Horus,” (“Wedjat,”) which had healing and protective powers. In this case, green represented well-being and to do “green things” was to behave in a positive, life-affirming manner.

The word green is derived from old English words (grene, groene) referring to growing, living plants and in every way it symbolises prosperity in its most natural form. In ancient Egypt malachite was often used as an amulet symbolizing health and it was worn for protection. The amulet was often in the form of a scarab, due to the beetle’s symbolic connotation to rebirth and immortality and whilst we may not consciously make all such links today, many of us still enjoy wearing bracelets or necklaces with malachite.

Today the colour green is equally laden with symbolism. It still represents growth and fertility but to my mind it also conjures up a sense of harmony and fresh natural vistas. It restores not just the body but the mind with restful feelings.

Walks under green canopied trees through abundant grass fields reduces stress and anxiety. No longer associated with resurrection and the next life, it stands instead for looking after the world in which we live. Unfortunately, the word is also now loaded with political implications which are much less relaxing to the mind but such is life today. I think I prefer the green of the past.