Beauty and cosmetics in ancient Egypt included pigments for the eyes, face and body, oils, ointments, aromatic resins, and the tools used to prepare, store and apply them. Toilet equipment included cosmetic palettes, jars, kohl tubes, applicators, mirrors, combs, hair accessories and jewellery. These products were used for body care, makeup, scenting, protection of the skin and eyes, and the ritual preparation of the dead. Their ingredients could be mineral, plant-derived or animal-derived. Analysis of twelve residues from eleven containers in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, published in 2022, identified inorganic ingredients based on lead, manganese or silicon together with vegetable oils, animal fats, conifer resin and beeswax, combined in different proportions among the samples.
Men, women and deities were represented with painted eyes, wigs, jewellery and other forms of personal adornment. In the daily service of Egyptian temples, divine statues were washed, dressed, adorned and anointed; cosmetics and ointments formed part of the ritual treatment of the cult image. The Ebers Papyrus preserves prescriptions for the eyes that include locally applied preparations; laboratory tests on some lead compounds found in Egyptian eye cosmetics have shown effects on living cells as well as their use as pigments. The myth of Horus, whose eye was injured and restored, also connected eye makeup with healing and protection.
Many surviving cosmetic objects come from necropolises, where mirrors, combs, jewellery, footwear and cosmetic containers were placed with the dead; their abundance among excavated material also reflects the concentration of many early excavations on cemeteries. Tombs could contain objects used by the deceased during life as well as objects made specifically for burial. During mummification, ointments, resins, bitumen and beeswax were applied to the body to perfume it, soften the skin, seal it or reshape it at different stages of treatment. Cosmetics on the skin, styled hair, wigs and extensions are also preserved on some mummies.
Religion and funerary rites
In sanctuaries, the divine statue was washed, dressed, adorned and treated with cosmetics and ointments during the daily ritual service. Egyptian images distinguished people and deities through clothing, ornaments, body shape and other visible attributes rather than relying on portrait-like realism. Eye makeup also had a mythological reference in Horus, whose eye was torn out by Seth and later restored; the healing of the eye was associated with the restoration of cosmic order. The frequency of funerary objects in archaeological collections is partly a result of the history of excavation, since many early excavations concentrated on necropolises. In tombs, mirrors, combs, jewellery, footwear and cosmetic containers could be possessions that had belonged to the deceased or objects made specifically for burial. Funerary preparation also included clothing and ornaments together with treatment of the body. During mummification, ointments were used to soften and perfume the skin, while bitumen, resins and beeswax were used to seal, protect or reshape the body. Cosmetics have been identified on the bodies of some mummies; in other cases styled hair, wigs or extensions survive.
Social, symbolic and medical uses
Egyptian representations show men, women and deities with painted eyes, wigs, jewellery, clothing and other adornments. Toilet objects placed in burials could likewise be possessions used during life or objects prepared specifically for the funerary assemblage. Burials of high-ranking people include elaborate boxes, stone, glass or faience containers, mirrors, combs and jewellery; some examples have gold or silver fittings. The box of the royal butler Kemeni from the Middle Kingdom is made of cedar with ebony and ivory veneer and silver fittings; it originally held eight small jars, probably for sacred oils used in funerary rites. Green was associated with vegetation, freshness, regeneration and life, while black could evoke alluvial soil, fertility and rebirth. The myth of the Eye of Horus, injured and then restored, further linked eye makeup with healing, protection and the restoration of cosmic order.
Egyptian medical texts prescribe plant, animal and mineral substances for the skin and eyes, including preparations administered as ointments or eye drops. The Ebers Papyrus contains prescriptions concerning ophthalmology and dermatology; substances applied to the skin, hair or eye area could be used for grooming, protection, ritual or treatment. Its eye recipes include drops, dressings and cosmetics for the eyes and eyelids, and some preparations contained lead compounds such as laurionite and phosgenite. In experiments on keratinocytes, submicromolar concentrations of lead ions, below one micromole per litre, induced an oxidative-stress response accompanied by increased production of nitric oxide. Because nitric oxide participates in innate immune defence, this increase could contribute to protection of the eye; the experiment does not show that ancient Egyptians added laurionite to makeup because they understood antimicrobial action in modern medical terms.
Materials and composition
Stone palettes for grinding pigments appear in the Predynastic Period; green malachite was used for eye makeup from the earliest phases, while black galena appears in later Predynastic burials. Malachite continued to be used at least into the Nineteenth Dynasty, while galena continued into the Coptic period. From the Middle Kingdom, containers with a small opening for an applicator became common; elongated tubes for eye cosmetics also appear in the New Kingdom. Raw materials included minerals, plant products and substances of animal origin. Some aromatic resins came from West Asia, while Egyptian sources connect the supply of incense with the Land of Punt and areas of Somalia or South Arabia.
Eye pigments
Among eye pigments, green was obtained mainly from malachite, a copper mineral, while galena, a dark grey lead sulfide, became the predominant black pigment. Malachite is known from the Badarian Period and the earliest Predynastic phases at least through the Nineteenth Dynasty; galena appears in the later Predynastic Period and continued in use into the Coptic period. Both minerals have been found as raw pieces, as residues on grinding surfaces, and as prepared powder or compact masses. In Predynastic burials, malachite and galena could be kept in linen or leather bags, while prepared pigment also occurs in shells, sections of hollow reed, plant leaves and small vessels. The minerals were ground on stone palettes with small pebbles to produce a paste for eye makeup. From the Middle Kingdom, containers with a narrow opening accommodated thin applicators; elongated cosmetic tubes are also known from the New Kingdom.
One recorded formulation of kohl was a mixture of carbon black, fat and antimony, applied with a small stick to the eyelids and eyelashes to outline the eyes. When mixed with moisture from the eye, this type of preparation could partly filter sunlight and help counter fungal infections or irritation associated with heat and intense light. Thin applicators were used to take the cosmetic from tubes or jars and place it around the eye, as surviving sets demonstrate.
In a series of 58 analyses, galena was the principal component of 37 samples; the remainder included lead carbonate, black copper oxide, brown ochre, magnetic iron oxide, manganese oxide, antimony sulfide, malachite and chrysocolla. Only one sample consisted principally of an antimony compound, while a few others contained traces interpreted as accidental impurities; identifying Egyptian kohl in general with antimony therefore does not describe most of the samples examined. Archaeometric analysis of twelve residues from eleven containers in the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology, dating from the Old Kingdom to the New Kingdom, revealed both mineral and organic ingredients. Their inorganic fractions included ingredients based on lead, manganese or silicon; six of the eleven samples subjected to organic analysis consisted mainly of organic material. All but one contained vegetable oils, three also contained animal fats, and conifer resin and beeswax were identified as well.
Analyses of eye cosmetics dating from about 2000 to 1200 BC have identified two chlorinated lead compounds in addition to galena and cerussite: laurionite and phosgenite. Because laurionite and phosgenite did not correspond either to naturally mined minerals or to alteration products of the samples, they were interpreted as substances made artificially through solution-based processes. Analysis of 52 samples from cosmetic containers at the Louvre found galena, cerussite, phosgenite and laurionite as the principal lead compounds. Experimental synthesis reproduced the two chlorides by reacting litharge with salt, sometimes with natron added, in warm water; laurionite and phosgenite precipitated from the solution.
Pigments for the face, body and hair
Red ochre occurs on Predynastic cosmetic palettes alongside eye pigments. When associated with palettes or preserved as a stain on grinding stones, it can indicate the preparation of color for other parts of the body; use on the cheeks has been proposed in particular. The material is a natural pigment based on iron oxides, often loosely described as hematite but more accurately classified in the samples concerned as red ochre. Because the same pigment was also used for painting tombs and objects and for writing, its presence in a burial does not by itself prove a cosmetic use. A colored substance on the face or body could have cosmetic, medical or ritual functions, so its purpose cannot always be determined from its location alone. Mineral substances used in remedies included iron oxides, carbon from charred wood, antimony, copper and lead compounds. Ancient sources also mention an Egyptian ointment made from cyprinum, tentatively identified with henna; its leaves, made into a paste, could color the palms, soles, nails and hair. Color visible on mummies does not by itself demonstrate cosmetic treatment, because some discoloration may derive from embalming materials.
Ointments, oils, perfumes and incense
Scented ointments, oils and fatty substances were applied to skin and hair to soften, protect or perfume them, and they also occurred in religious rites and funerary preparation. In Egypt's hot, dry climate, fatty bases could also absorb and retain aromatic materials. Ancient sources mention castor oil among the oils used by poorer people, while solid fats were probably animal-derived. During mummification, ointments were spread on the skin of the dead to soften and perfume it. Other materials, including resins, bitumen and beeswax, were used to seal, protect or reshape the body.