Posted on 06/19/2025 8:44:17 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Chemical analysis of the contents of a small ceramic vessel found in a 2,700-year-old burial at the site of Kani Koter revealed it contained a type of eye makeup known as kohl, according to the Greek Reporter. Kohl was widely used across ancient Egypt and the Middle East, but this example from the Iron Age cemetery in northwestern Iran is unlike any other that has previously been found. The black eyeliner was made from a combination of local manganese oxides and graphite, an ingredient that had never been identified before in ancient kohl formulas. The researchers noted that graphite would have had both aesthetic and functional value, as it reflects light and produces a silvery-black metallic glimmer but also clings easily to the skin. Ancient cosmetics usually contain some kind of organic material, such as animal fat or plant oil, but no evidence of these components was detected. Archaeologists believe that the grave in which the makeup jar was found belonged to a high-status individual, perhaps a warrior, as other burial objects included weapons, jewelry, horse gear, and other precious metal artifacts. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Archaeometry. To read about a 4,000-year-old stone lipstick vial uncovered in southeastern Iran, go to "Near Eastern Lip Kit."
(Excerpt) Read more at archaeology.org ...
Cosmetic containers and pin-shaped applicatorsAmelirad, S., & Azizi, E. (2021). Kani Koter, Iron Age cemetery from Iranian Kurdistan. Iran, 59(1), 57–76, fig. 22
They are older than I thought..............
Some women wouldn’t want to be found dead without make-up.
Did they get a sample of Pelosi’s.
:^) Are you saying that Liz put on her own makeup?!? ;^)
Hand mirrors have been in use for a long time, back into the Stone Age (obsidian).
Kohl is an interesting make~up first introduced to it many years ago on a trip to Egypt .
This eye makeup was made of distilled sperm.
Meanwhile the Romans brushed their teeth with urine.
I figured only the Royals and Upper Crust would have the makeup and the staff to apply them. Did anybody below them use makeup?
Were the Royals and Upper Crust the “influencers” of their day? Did the look trickle down to the lower classes?
**Some women wouldn’t want to be found dead without make-up.**
Which is sad. But that’s what competition does. And men are so used to seeing painted faces that they don’t realize what they are seeing isn’t the real woman.
My wife didn’t wear much makeup when I was dating her: some mascara, skin tone, and a lip gloss that was similar to her lip color (and she didn’t paint her lips ‘outside of the lines’). She quit the stuff 4 years into our marriage. I don’t miss it.
Liz and paint.... she was wearing almost that much when going to any event. I remember seeing her on Carson back in the early 70s and thinking, “wow, how long does it take to put all that goop on?”
Application could have been done by a slave, but it’s very difficult to get graphite off the skin. I must have been a bear cleaning up
I know what you mean about graphite. I’ve used dry graphite lubes on locks and that stuff is impossible to wash off.
Charcoal. Worn by football players and hookers.
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