Kohl Stick

Kohl Stick

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The ancient Egyptians used several powdered minerals as eye make-up. These powders, generally referred to as kohl, were stored in small kohl jars of stone (36.3.62), wood (26.7.1447), glazed steatite (1989.281.101), faience (26.7.910), and glass (91.1.1351). The powder was usually applied using a long, tapering stick like this one which was found in the tomb of Hatnefer (36.3.1)

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

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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.