But, like many colors, it also had a negative association, with heat, destruction and evil. A prayer to god Isis said: "Oh Isis, protect me from all things evil and red." The ancient Egyptians began manufacturing pigments in about 4000 BC. Red ochre was widely used as a pigment for wall paintings, particularly as the skin color of men. An ivory painter's palette found inside the tomb of King Tutankhamun had small compartments with pigments of red ochre and five other colors. The Egyptians used the root of the rubia, or madder plant, to make a dye, later known as alizarin, and also used it to color white power to use as a pigment, which became known as madder lake, alizarin or alizarin crimson.
When did Egyptians start to make red pigment?
4000 BC