Re: How was the paint made that was used in the temples and tumbs in Egypt?

This is a very interesting question - and one that I find personally
intriguing as I sometimes oil paint. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to
locate a definitive answer for you.

However, in essence, painting involves the application of a pigment to a
surface in some form of medium that contains a binder. The idea is that
the medium allows the application while the binder polymerizes to hold the
pigment in place.

Throughout history, a number of different substances have been used. For
example, egg white can act as a binder to hold pigment in place. Modern
oil paints use linseed oil (which should be locally available) as a basis
and paints can be created using using this as both medium and binder. It
polymerizes with time and forms a "dried" paint.

However, the more important question is what to use as a pigment. I should
start by pointing out that a pigment is generally a metal complex with
much more resistance to both oxidation (reaction with molecular oxygen in
the air) and photodegradation (reactions induced by the absorption of 
light) than dyes which are generally organic compounds and non-permanent.

To this end, your search for rocks and minerals are justified as they are
the likely pigments used. I know that the red/ochres are likely to be 
iron oxides - rust - and that you should be able to grind up some rusty
metal as a source of red and brown paints. Alternatively, you may have some
natural ochre sources in the community. (I know where such a source is in
B.C. but that doesn't help!)

Ivory black - another big colour used in ancient times - is made from 
charred bones. I am not sure that this is something that you want to be
doing with students but you could approach a crematorium and see if they
will char some animal bones for you. Again, the material is ground to a 
fine powder before mixing with the medium. This is not an "inorganic" 
pigment but is stable to oxidation as it is already highly oxidized.

From the Egyptian pyramid paintings that I have seen, browns, yellows,
reds, and blacks are the big colours. Other sources of colour include
gemstones such as Lapis lazuli which is a natural ultramarine (a deep blue)
but this is probably prohibitively expensive as a teaching module. I 
would also suggest that "lamp black" - the soot from an oil lamp or candle
- might be a better form of black, albeit not as permanent and more
difficult to deal with.

I hope this helps with your research. It sounds like it could be a 
wonderful integration of science, art, and history.