What is cinnabar? The word most likely comes from the ancient Greek κιννάβαρι kinnabari, later romanized to cinnabaris. In Persian, it is known as شنگرف‎‎‎ shangarf; in the Arabic world it appears as زنجفرة zinjifrah. Cinnabar, the most common ore of oxidized mercury found in nature, occurs in granular crusts or veins associated with volcanic activity and hot springs. The ruddy hue of this natural mineral pigment embodies the hot and fiery conditions in which it forms.



Cinnabar has been mined and used as a precious resource by many cultures around the globe since at least the 10th millennium B.C. Cinnabar is also known as "vermilion." The two terms are used interchangeably, by both ancient authors and modern scholars, because chemically the two substances are the same (HgS; mercuric sulfide). But "cinnabar" refers to the mineral, while "vermilion" is the pigment. Until the discovery of cadmium red in the early 20th century, vermilion was the most widely used red pigment around the globe, and the most vibrant red.

Anthropologists have long been interested in the role of cinnabar in rituals and other symbolic activities. Research shows it has been used at various times and places to denote blood, victory, success, the duality of life and death, and immortality. For example, the pigment was used during triumphal processions by Romans. It was also applied to skulls and bones as part of burial rituals in neolithic cultures in Anatolia, China, Galilee, Spain, and Syria, and in many cultures of the ancient Americas. Some believe the color was prized because of its vibrant permanence, which is so unlike the blood it visually resembles.