Women & Girls in the Ancient World/ PART 2: Cosmetic Containers in Ancient Anatolia

Women and Girls in the Ancient World: Their History, Our History returns! In this post, we are excited to present ancient Anatolian cosmetic containers, exhibited in the Henrietta Herbolsheimer, M.D. Syro-Anatolian Gallery at the Oriental Institute Museum.


Cosmetic Containers
Henrietta Herbolsheimer, M.D. Syro-Anatolian Gallery, Oriental Institute Museum 

Beauty and fashion were significant for women and men in the ancient Near East. High-ranking women in particular did their best to preserve and valorize their beauty. The high quality of clothing and jewelry being worn can be seen in surviving artistic representations. Hairstyle and makeup also played an important role in the lives of ancient Anatolian women. Evidence for hairstyles is found in the archaeological record, but information about makeup is difficult to decipher from artifacts. What can we infer about ancient cosmetics?

The pictures below are ancient cosmetic boxes.

OIM A26986 – Chatal Höyük, 1^st millennium BCE

 

OIM A12634 – Tell Judaidah, 1^st millennium BCE

How Important Were Cosmetics to Women in Ancient Anatolia?
 
The cosmetics containers displayed in the Syro-Anatolian Gallery at the Oriental Institute Museum were made of various materials such as bone, ivory, and stone. As shown in the images here, artisans carved and incised their surfaces with patterns and flowers or scenes involving human beings. The more valuable boxes were typically owned by elite ladies, but archaeologists have found cosmetic containers in common houses, too. While they were made of less precious materials such as clay, they could be highly decorated and embellished. Some of these boxes had lids to keep them closed. The lid was attached to the box with a peg and was rotated to open and close the box.

But what did these boxes contain? What was ancient Anatolian women makeup like?

Boxes like those reproduced in ancient Anatolia have been carefully analyzed for remains of eye paint (black is the most common color). In some cases, containers with shapes similar to cosmetic boxes were used to preserve an iron oxide called red ochre, used to rouge lips and cheeks.


Cosmetics as Medical Remedies
 
Cuneiform texts dating to the Hittite period (14^th–13^th century BCE) provide us with lists of goods, objects, materials, and substances sent to the Hittite capital from different cities or kingdoms as gifts, tribute, or as regular trade goods.

Among those items are listed specific minerals that were probably pulverized and used both as medicines and cosmetics [1] such as red ochre, which could be used to color works of art and textiles.

It is noteworthy that some of these cosmetics, especially eye paint, were used also as medical remedies. In warm areas like Egypt and southern Mesopotamia, eye paint was used to repel little insects that were responsible for some eye diseases.[2]

[1] Cf. M. Vigo “Linen in Hittite Inventory Texts”: 298-302. 

[2] Cf. M. Dayagi-Mendels “Cosmetics”: 68. M. Dayagi-Mendels Perfumes and Cosmetics in the Ancient World: 36.

How were Cosmetics Made?

Cosmetics were made primarily from minerals and plants. Grinding palettes and sticks are often found in the archaeological record. These tools served to grind the makeup material into a powder, which would then be mixed with water, sometimes with the addition of a resin, oil, or fat. Cosmetics were applied with the help of small brushes (as we can observe in Egyptian wall paintings) or tiny rods made of different material (found in archaeological excavations).

Here are some of the colors and originating stones that were used as cosmetics for eyes and skin:
 
FOR THE EYES:
Green A precious green mineral called malachite was used to create a green paint to be applied around the eyes. We have texts listing this stone as a gift or tribute.

Black Different kinds of minerals, such as antimony and galena (used for khol in late antiquity), or substances of vegetal origin as charcoal were employed to achieve a black substance that was applied around the eyes. Diluted oil or water was applied on eyelashes and eyebrows as a form of ancient mascara.


FOR THE LIPS AND CHEEKS:
Red Red ochre and hematite were used to rouge lips and cheeks. We know that they were powdered and mixed with animal fat or vegetable oil. In Anatolia, linseed oil was probably used.

White A whiter face was considered beautiful in the ancient Near East. We have information from Babylonia and Greece about the abundant use of powdered lead to make the face whiter. This fashion probably also spread to Anatolia. However, lead is poisonous even when used topically and was most likely the reason for several diseases.


Perfumes and Lotions

Men and women in ancient times also used ointments, lotions, and perfumes. They were all made on a base of vegetal oils and animal fat, unlike modern ones which are often alcohol based. In the Mediterranean area, these products were usually made with olive oil; in Anatolia, linseed oil; in Mesopotamia, sesame oil; and in Egypt, animal fat. They were mixed (and sometimes cooked) with spices and/or macerated flowers (such as lavender, jasmine, and lily).


Bibliography
 
Cassin, E. 1980-1983 “Kosmetik” in Reallexicon der Assyriologie 6: 214-218.

Dayagi-Mendels, M. 1989 Perfumes and Cosmetics in the Ancient World, Jerusalem.

Dayagi-Mendels, M. 1997 “Cosmetics” in E. Meyers (ed.) The Oxford Encyclopedia of Archaeology in the Near East, Oxford : 67-69.

Pappi, C. 2008 “Salbe, Salbengefäß (ointment, ointment container) in Reallexicon der Assyriologie 11: 572-574.

Vigo, M. 2010 “Linen in Hittite Inventory Texts” in C. Michel & M.-L. Nosch (eds.) Textile Terminologies in the Ancient Near East and Mediterranean from Third to First Millennia BC, (Ancient Textile Series 8), Oxford: 290-322.

Suggested Guiding Questions and Basic Activities for Students

For Elementary Level 
A Research Project: Finding Links from the Past to the Present

Cosmetics containers are archaeological objects. People in the ancient Near East had already developed eye powder, eye paint, rouge, lip color, perfumes, and lotions, which are still being used today!

Steps:
The Past: Interview your grandmother, a senior relative, or an elder neighbor and find out what kind of makeup they and their prior generations may have used in their youth. Try to trace how far back in time you can go!

The Present: Check the ingredients of the lipsticks, rouge, eye liner, eye powder, and mascara that you may find in the store. What common things have you discovered between these modern items and the artifacts you just learned about? (Hint: powdered minerals or plants with the addition of oils, and preservatives)

Conclusion: Although thousand years have passed, we still inherit the use of many of the same substances from our ancestors, and are continuously developing new ways to best preserve them.

For Elementary to Middle School level 
Make Your Own Homemade Floral Perfume
Ingredients:

• Fragrant flowers (lavender, orange blossoms, jasmine, etc.)
• Quantity depends on the kind of flower selected (see instructions)
• 1 cup of water

Tools:

• 1 bowl
• 1 lid to cover the bowl
• 1 piece of cheesecloth (gauze-like cotton cloth) larger than your bowl diameter
• 1 small pot
• A stove (with adult supervision)
• 1 small glass bottle with a removable seal for your perfume
• Adhesive label

Instructions:

1. Chop enough flowers to fill 1 cup (Tip: this process can easily be done by hand with lavender. If this is your first time doing it, we recommend using lavender). Make sure the chopped flowers and water are of the same quantity.
2. Place your cheesecloth in the bowl with edges coming out; fill it with chopped flowers.
3. Pour the water over the flowers.
4. Cover the bowl and let rest overnight.
5. Pull the cloth out of the bowl and squeeze the scented water into a small pot.
6. Put the pot on the stove and simmer the water at low heat. Do not cover. Let the water evaporate until 1 tablespoon is left.
7. Your perfume is ready! Cool it and pour it into the small glass bottle with a removable seal.
8. Write the date on an adhesive label and stick it to the bottle. It “expires” in one month! 

Variations: Try to make your perfume with spices, such as vanilla sticks. In this case, the stick has to simmer together with the water.

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About the Speaker/Author:

Benedetta Bellucci, PhD (University of Pavia, Italy), has participated in archaeological excavations and survey projects in Syria, Turkey, Libya, and Qatar. She is an instructor in ancient Near Eastern archaeology and art history at the University of Pavia, and works with museums and institutions in Italy for the promotion of archaeological and historical projects involving young students. Benedetta is currently a resident researcher at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago.