Sources in Time

Sources in Time Ocular Cosmetics in Ancient Times JUAN MURUBE, MD, PHD lthough cosmetics, from no graphic written quotations with the proportions, the mixture had A Greek kósmesis (adorn), now regard to cosmetics. (The old terms various color tones and consistencies. refers to external products do not correspond to present termi- The black paste or mesdemet was used used to beautify the skin, hair, eye, or nology. For instance, antimonium to give shadow color to the upper and other parts of the body, cosmesis was was introduced by alchemists about lower lids, and to extend the outline of not the first objective of primitive eye four centuries ago, referring to the the inner and outer lid rims and the painting. The first aim of body painting Latin stibium, hence, the symbol Sb eyebrows (Figure 1). After the fourth in primitive cultures may have been to for antimony.) dynasty, it was common to extend the protect people from evil spirits, which A few centuries later, hieroglyphic eyebrows and the outer corner of the could enter their body through vulner- and phonetic script were developed lids to the temple. The black paste was able openings, such as the eyes. The in ancient Egypt, and from then on, probably different for rich and poor second aim was for medical purposes, abundant information about eye medi- people, as the antimony-based pastes to treat visible or nonvisible pathologies cines and cosmetics were recorded. were more expensive than the lead- in the eye (such as conjunctivitis, hor- The pharmacopoeia of Pharaonic based ones. deolum, corneal ulcer, white cataracts, Egypt was rich in liquid and pasty Most of these products came from loss of vision) or elsewhere in the ocular applications obtained from the Nile valley, Sinai peninsula and body. Lastly, cosmetics were used to botanical sources (eg, henna, myrrh, Mediterranean-Jordan strip, but some enhance the association of the eyes incense, cedar or sycamore sawdust, were imported from Arabia and other with youth, beauty, and social power. gum arabic, burnt almonds, olive oil); parts of south Asia, including mesde- In some cases, two or three objectives from animals (eg, fat, honey, mamma- met of antimony sulfide, which did were combined. Rupestrian paintings lian, lizard or bat blood, women’sor not exist in Egypt. In ancient Egypt, and stone engravings provide evidence animal milk, liver pastes, turtle brain); the principal markets for cosmetics that eyelids were painted to give them or from minerals (eg, hematites [iron and other merchandise were Babylon an appearance of youth or power in oxide], galena [lead ore, plumbic and Athens.1 The liquid and pasty prehistoric paleolytic and neolytic sulfate], cerussite [plumbic carbonate collyria were used for religious, times. Historic times began with the and lead hydrate], stibnite [antimony medical, or cosmetic purposes. gradual development of script. sulphide], lapis lazuli [silicate of About 8 millennia ago, the Sume- aluminium mixed with sulfate of USES OF COSMETIC SUBSTANCES rians of Mesopotamia introduced agri- calcium and soda, and frequently with Religious Use culture and cattle farming, followed iron pyrites], chrysocolla [copper ore During life, mystic protection of about 2 millennia later by picto- or copper hydrosilicate, with silica], the gods against diseases and accidents graphic and syllabic writings. Sume- malachite [copper carbonate], copper was always present. It was believed rians and Babylonians left little sulfate, copper oxide, mercury oxide, that some body paintings had magical information about ocular pastes and zinc oxide, and potassium nitrate. and protective power. They were used cosmetics. The Assyrian cuneiform The most frequently used substance in everyday life or in religious rituals tablet of the physician Nabu-le’u cites was the “black paste” for the eyes, called and were applied to males and females antimony, copper, zinc oxide, iron mesdemet and mainly composed of of all ages. Even after a person’s death, oxide, arsenic, and sea salt for the plumbic sulfate or antimony sulfide. different parts of the body were treatment of the eyes, but there are Other cosmetics for the eye and other painted, such as the eyes, in order to parts of the body were green collyrium present a look of respect and submis- Juan Murube, MD, PhD, is Professor Emeritus, or ouadjou that contained copper sion in the world of the gods and University of Alcalá, Madrid, Spain. carbonate or hydrosilicate. Also used spirits, and perhaps also to enhance were ground green malachite, gray the corpse’s appearance for the © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. The galena, white cerussite, reddish copper, mourners attending the burial ritual. Ocular Surface ISSN: 1542-0124. Murube J. blue-green chrysocolla, and ochre ash. The British Museum preserves a box Ocular cosmetics in ancient times. Usually they were mixed with oil or for cosmetic cleaning that belonged to 2013;11(1):2-7. fat. When combined, depending on the spouse of the scribe Ani, in the 18th 2 THE OCULAR SURFACE / JANUARY 2013, VOL. 11 NO. 1 / www.theocularsurface.com SOURCES IN TIME / Murube Cosmetic painting of the lids and eyelashes is considered to have been first practiced by adult women, and later on by pubescent girls (until recently, most females married when pubescent). These young girls perhaps used eye painting to copy the ways of adult ladies, as a subconscious or conscious manifestation of their matu- rity, elegance, and/or social state. The verb “to make up the eyes” was sedje- mir, which also meant “to speak with the eyes” or “to express with the eyes.” The use of cosmetics by men was less frequent, maybe because their manifestation of masculinity was mainly based in their physical strength, authority, and power. Moreover, lid cosmetics had perhaps become a symbol of femininity, and thus their use would not have made men attractive to women or respected by society. However, men did use lid makeup (Figure 2), although infrequently, and sometimes they dyed the beard, mustache, hair, eyebrows and eyelashes. In the Ancient Empire the most frequent color used was the green udyu, a powder and paste made with crushed malachite stone. However, Figure 1. Queen Nefertiti (circa *1390-þ1360 BCE). The eyebrows, lid rims and eyelashes are after the IVth dynasty, black mesdemet painted, and the line of the lateral lid corner is extended to the fronto-malar orbital bones. became the most commonly used. Other commonly used body and eye cosmetics were white cerussite powder dynasty (1550-1295 BCE). It contains papyrus cites more than 50 times the use and the blue of lapislazuli. some wooden tubes with paste “for of mesdemet on the eyebrows, lid Tattooing of skin on the forehead, smearing the eyes during the periods of surface, and eyelashes, not only to eyelids, or hands was also frequent. It the Nile river swelling” (in those times make them more visible and apparently was usually done with henna. Henna is the real causes of the Nile swelling bigger, but also to maintain their health a vegetable dye obtained from Lawsonia were a mystery and were considered to – to treat and eliminate the ”blood inermis or Lawsonia alba, whose leaves, be divine). Other tubes contained paste around the eye,” to treat “sudden eye when crushed and dried, produce for the dry periods and for protection pain,” and to kill lice and nits.4-6 It could a reddish powder. When the powder against wind-borne sand. be used alone or mixed with other was mixed with water, it formed a paste substances, such as wood powder, used to paint hands, nails, grey hair, and Medical Use onion, or, in severe ocular external eyelids. Its dark-red color on the applied Conjunctivitis, including trachoma edemas, with “the milk of a woman cutaneous surfaces was nonperma- and other forms, and blepharitis were who has just borne a boy.”2 nent.8 Frequently, aromatic compo- very common in ancient cultures, such Some modern pharmacologic nents, such as fir resin, myrtha, as Pharaonic Egypt. The Ebers papyrus,2 studies do not verify a clinical calamus, and many others, were added circa 1550 BCE, states that many people improvement of the eyes with to the cosmetic. “can not produce eyelashes in their conjunctivitis, blepharitis or dermatitis Aside from its cosmetic purpose, the lids,”3 which suggests that blepharitis that were treated with mesdemet.7 painting of the eyes played a preventive was common. Already in the Ancient and protective role in eye pathologies, Empire (z 2.650-2.150 BCE), the Cosmetic Use sometimes contributing to improve- most commonly used pastes for medical Cosmetics were very common in ment of vision and preservation of eye treatments or for facial cosmesis were ancient Egypt and were used by men health. In the Old Hebrew civilization, the “black pastes for the eye.” The Ebers and women, whether rich or poor. the Bible several times uses the term THE OCULAR SURFACE / JANUARY 2013, VOL. 11 NO. 1 / www.theocularsurface.com 3 SOURCES IN TIME / Murube yellow color, which, when mixed with water, becomes bright red. In classic Greece, the term kollyrion referred to pastes and solutions with various components and combi- nations to be used as medications. Dioscorides cited ocular unguents for medical use, such as stibnite, vitriol (salts of sulfuric acid), and lapis lazuli.17 Some of them were also used to embellish the eyes. So, Dioscorides wrote that “a good paste of stibnite is a cosmetic,” and it had the popular names of “enlarger of the eyes” and “embellisher of the women.”18 The classic Roman culture took the Greek term kollyrion and modified it Figure 2. Golden mask that covered the face of the mummy of the Pharaoh Tutankhamen (circa to the Latin collyrium.

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