Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University

4-Grooming

Title Tweezers
Era Egyptian, New Kingdom, 1539–1292 BCE
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.953
Title Grinding Palette
Era Egyptian, Middle Kingdom, 1980–1760 BCE
Medium Gray quartzite
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.929
Title Razor
Era Nubian, Classic Kerma, Kerma, Nubia, Sudan
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.1105
Title Mirror
Era Egyptian, Late Middle Kingdom to New Kingdom, 1980–1077 BCE, Possibly from Kerma, Nubia, Sudan
Medium Bronze
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.633
Title Comb
Era Egyptian, Roman to Coptic Periods, late 2nd to early 7th century CE
Medium Wood
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.231
Title Kohl Tube and Applicator
Era Egyptian, Late to Roman Period, 722 BCE–642 CE
Medium Ivory
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.1015–1016
Title Headrest
Era Egyptian
Medium Wood, gesso, pigment
Credit Gift of the Georges Ricard Foundation. 2018.10.122

Ancient Egyptian grooming was much like ours today but done with different tools. Wooden combs untangled hair. Razors sharpened by grinding palettes kept men and women clean-shaven. Blunt-edged tweezers plucked out unruly hairs. Oil and unguent were applied to the skin to soften hair for shaving and plucking.1 Kohl made eyes more luminous and protected them from disease and the sun’s glare. Kohl was stored in pots and tubes of many shapes. Once mixed with a binder, kohl was applied by kohl sticks or the fingers to help it adhere to eye rims and lashes.2 Bronze mirrors polished to a high sheen reflected the area to be groomed or beautified.3

Headrests were the ancient Egyptian equivalent of a pillow. They supported the head and neck while sleeping. They also allowed air to flow under the head to cool the sleeper. The ancient Egyptians were buried with headrests for use in the next life. Headrests such as this are found throughout Africa.

MH

  1. . ↩︎

  2. See binder discussion in . ↩︎

  3. Cf. Boston, Museum of Fine Arts 20.1792 from Kerma, Nubia; and MFA 27.872, excavated at Semna, Nubia. ↩︎

Bibliography

Freed 1982
Freed, Rita E., ed. 1982. Egypt’s Golden Age: The Art of Living in the New Kingdom, 1558-1085 B.C.; Catalogue of the Exhibition. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts.
Riesmeier et al. 2022
Riesmeier, Marabel, Jennifer Keute, Margaret-Ashley Veall, Daniel Borschneck, Alice Stevenson, Anna Garnett, Maria Ragan, and Tibaut Devièse. 2022. "Recipes of Ancient Egyptian kohls more diverse than previously thought."Scientific Reports 12: 5932. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08669-0
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
Group shot of grooming objects
Counter-clockwise from bottom-left: Tweezers, Grinding Palette, Razor, Mirror, Comb, Kohl Tube and Applicator, and Headrest © Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University
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