Kohl Jar

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Hatnefer (36.3.1), the mother of Senenmut (36.3.252), received a rich burial in a small rock-cut tomb near that of her son. Her grave goods were deposited alongside her fine wooden coffin and included many objects from daily life. Inside one of the decorated baskets (36.3.59) were a smaller basket (36.3.60), an alabaster jar (36.3.61) , and this graceful kohl jar (36.3.63) with its wooden applicator (36.3.62). The jar had a crusty residue inside that was identified as galena, one of the minerals used as an eye cosmetic by the Egyptians. Hatnefer undoubtedly used the little eye-paint container and applicator during her lifetime.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art