The Color Black

The Meaning of the color Black The color and material used in Elizabethan Clothing was extremely important. People who could wear the color Black was dictated by English Law! These were called the Sumptuary Laws. The colors of Elizabethan clothes, including the color Black, provided information about the status of the man or woman wearing them. This was not just dictated by the wealth of the person, it also reflected their social standing. The meaning of colors during the Elizabethan era represented many aspects of their life - the social, religious, biblical and Christian symbolism was reflected in the color Black!

The Symbolic and Religious Meaning of the color Black Some interesting facts and information about the symbolic, religious, Christian and Biblical meaning of the color Black

• The symbolic meaning of the color black was authority and power

• King Philip II of Spain ( 1527 - 1598 ) is often portrayed wearing sumptuous black clothes

• Expensive dyes were used to produce the true color black. This, the darkest of all colors, was difficult to produce in a color-fast format without the tendency to fade

• Black is also symbolic of death, and as such is used as the Christian / Biblical color for Good Friday

• Black clothing also symbolized humility and plainness, and for this reason was associated with monastic life and could be cheaply produced by using coarse, rough, undyed dark wool

• People who were allowed to wear the color black during the Elizabethan era, as decreed by the English Sumptuary Laws, were lower and upper classes

More details, facts and information about other colors may be accessed via the Elizabethan Clothing link at the top of the page.

Black is primarily associated with the negative aspects of human experience - including death, disease, famine, and sorrow - all of which are the results of sin. The exception is the implication of health when describing hair.

Direct Meaning:

• sin - Job 6:15-16

• disease - Job 30:30

• famine - Lamentations 4:8; 5:10, Revelation 6:5-6

• death - Jude 1:12-13

• sorrow - Jeremiah 8:21 (KJV)

Opposite Meaning:

• health - Leviticus 13:37, Song of Solomon 1:5-6; 5:11

Color Symbolism:

• judgment - Jeremiah 14:2, Leviticus 13:37, Job 3:5

Associated Symbols: sackcloth - mourning (Genesis 37:34, Isaiah 50:3, Revelation 6:12)

In the history of science, the etymology of the word chemistry is a debatable issue. It is agreed that the word derives from the word alchemy, which is a European one, derived from the Arabic al-kīmīā (الكيمياء). The Arabic term is derived from the Greek χημία or χημεία.^[1][2] However, the ultimate origin of the root word, chem, is uncertain.^[3]

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the majority theory is that al-kīmīā is derived from χημία, which is derived from the ancient Egyptian name of Egypt (khem, khame, or khmi, meaning "black earth", contrasting with the surrounding desert.) Therefore, alchemy is the "Egyptian art".^[1] However, it is also possible that al-kīmīā was derived from χημεία, meaning "cast together".^[4]

Traditionally, the science of alchemy was once considered to have sprung from great Egyptian figure named by the Greeks "Hermes Trismegistus" (the "thrice-great" Hermes, celebrated as priest, king, and scholar), who is thought to have been the founder of the art.^[5] Reputed to have lived about 1900 B.C., he was highly celebrated for his wisdom and skill in the operations of nature. In 1614 Isaac Casaubon demonstrated that the works attributed to Hermes – the so-called "Hermetic corpus" – were actually written pseudonymously during the first three centuries of the Common Era.

Carbon black (also known as acetylene black, channel black, furnace black, lamp black or thermal black) is a material produced by the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products such as FCC tar, coal tar, ethylene cracking tar, and a small amount from vegetable oil. Carbon black is a form of amorphous carbon that has a high surface-area-to-volume ratio, although its surface-area-to-volume ratio is low compared to that of activated carbon. It is dissimilar to soot in its much higher surface-area-to-volume ratio and significantly lower (negligible and non-bioavailable) PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon) content. However, carbon black is widely used as a model compound for diesel soot for diesel oxidation experiments.^[1] Carbon black is used as a pigment and reinforcement in rubber and plastic products.

The current International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluation is that, "Carbon black is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)".^[2] Short-term exposure to high concentrations of carbon black dust may produce discomfort to the upper respiratory tract, through mechanical irritation.

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