Make up, Perfume, and incense for the afterlife.
I have a picture of a Roman cosmetics chest. The cosmetics chest is from Pompeii , and is some time before Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. what is interesting is that make up chests, or boxes are a part of the Greco Roman world in Egypt.
The Greeks that came with Alexander the Great to Egypt , stayed to found the Ptolemy reign of Pharaohs brought with them the use of cosmetics and a love of glass containers and fanciful clay jars that were unique in their shapes and forms. The Greeks hade everything from basic cylinder shapes to reproductions of animals and people.
The Egyptians whos love of cosmetics was taken to an almost religious level, had documented processes for make up, perfumes and incense . The ancient Egyptians were aware of the properties of their powdered minerals, but it is known that they were proficient in chemistry, often creating mixtures that required complex procedures as long ago as 2000 BC. It was was the combination of cultures that left some of the most interesting grave goods in the tombs around the Fayum oasis in middle Egypt. The mummies were the culmination of the three afore mentioned cultures. The realism of Greek art, the tradition of preserving the dead made this curious new art form of a portrait affixed to the mummy.
The Egyptian notion needing things in the afterlife left us with amazing specimens of the objects of everyday life. Perfume bottles, grinding stones and trays to make eye shadow. sticks to apply the kohl to eyelids , combs and jewelry. They put things in with the dead that they used in everyday life and the relatives felt that the dead would want in the afterlife. I hope to recreate a make up box to simulate that part of this era's day to day life.
Source:
Perfumes and cosmetics in the ancient world (Catalogue)
Published by Israel Museum,The, 1997
ISBN 10: 9652780588ISBN 13: 9789652780584
Comments
Post a Comment