The Egyptians, along with the other ancient civilizations, were complex societies. Their culture has many similarities with modern societies, one of which was their concern for beauty. Egyptians went to great lengths to ensure that they were portrayed as flatteringly as possible, rarely depicting their true age. Youth was seen as central to their concept of beauty.
When one looks at human depictions in the artwork of the ancient Egyptians, one may notice the black lines around their eyes. Upon closer attention to detail, one notices that it resembles the way girls today apply eyeliner. This is what was intriguing enough to spark questions about the Egyptian society’s views on cosmetics. Was it a statement of beauty? Of power? Did it relate to their status?
There is evidence to support the generalization that Egyptians may in fact have valued beauty even more than we do today. They expressed their fondness for beauty in their artwork. Their sculptures and paintings provide evidence for how they valued beauty. The value they saw in beauty is depicted in their paintings and sculptures, such as the bust of Nefertiti, which was made to make her look flawless. They also used eye paints (similar to today’s eyeliner), and it was typically made from malachite and galena. Eventually galena became the country’s primary eye paint, and both are found in tombs on pallets and stones that are believed to have been used in preparation of the paints.1
The image to the left is a statue from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo. This statue gives us a visual representation of the ideal form of a male. One may notice the square, wide shoulders, a slim, muscular figure, and a very defined face shape.
The image to the left is a bust of Nefertiti, the great Royal Wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten. It is believed to be sculpted by Thutmose, who is believed to be the official court sculptor of Pharaoh Akhenaten.2 It was recovered in his workshop and is believed to have been sculpted in 1345 BCE. Nefertiti was a staple for beauty in her time, and her husband strove to make her co-equal with himself, making her one of the most powerful women ever to rule. Nefertiti was universally portrayed as beautiful, and her beauty can still be appreciated today. As one can see in this bust, the queen was sculpted to depict an exemplar of beauty, with a slim face, painted lips, long neck, and adornments on her head and clothes.3
It seems that maybe the Egyptians were more beauty crazed than people of our generation. It is apparent that the ancient Egyptians did not find pride or beauty in older ages. They preferred to alter the way they looked, instead of having themselves accurately represented. It gives us the impression that maybe this ancient culture is not as different from ours as we may have initially assumed.
- A. Lucas, “Cosmetics, Perfumes and Incense in Ancient Egypt,” The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 16, no. 1/2 (1930): 41. ↵
- Who’s Who in Ancient Egypt, Routledge, 2003. s.v. “Thutmose (c. 1352 – 1366 BC), ” by Michael Rice. ↵
- Thutmose. Bust of Queen Nefertiti, Egyptian Museum Berlin, n.d. http://www.egyptian-museum-berlin.com/c53.php. ↵
65 comments
Michelle Falcon
Many women now a days care very much about their appearances. This article is telling how Egyptian women may have been the first to care about their facial appearances. However beauty also dealt with power, although some may say that beauty is subjective. The anther continues on tell the reader that it is quite possible that the woman of the Egyptian time period were more concerned about beauty of the women in modern day time.
Troy Leonard
its very infesting how even back In ancient times the woman were still very intrigued in how they looked. even as far as the eyeliner woman today still put eyeliner on even though now they have better materials for it its still the same idea. I believe that they were more concerned in their looks in ancient times than as it is today
Justin Garcia
This article is interesting in how it connects the past to the present. Many of are modern practices, customs, and beliefs stem from the past in some way or form. Religion for instance keeps itself true to its original form and so do beliefs such as hospitality and political ideals. The article tackles the idea of beauty standards today by looking to the past to see where it could have started. It not only gives us insight to a different era but also shows us that we have the ability to change. The standards of humanity are constantly changing so can our thoughts on beauty. Overall a good article keep up the great work.
Ezequiel De La Fuente
I thought that this article was very interesting. It’s weird to think that now we believe that women are becoming beauty obsessed. Society of today’s age seems to have a perfect image of what beauty is but after reading your article it seems we have been at this state for hundreds of years. After reading this article I can see how their makeup could relate to women eyeliner!
Megan Barnett
I found this article interesting but I feel the title is not fit to represent it. The information giving that was supported by different sources seemed to have just explained various ways Egyptians dressed and or tried to look. The concept that if women in ancient Egypt were more concerned about beauty than modern day women did not really fit as the idea seemed to just be placed in. Plus, the statue from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo did not really match if the article was supposed to be focused on women in Egypt.
Gabriela Serrato
I found this article to be very thought provoking as it did make me think of the fascination of beauty women have. It is very interesting that even throughout all of these years, women have always been interested in keeping their appearances “beautiful.” Today, I feel that women chase this idea of all around beauty today for different reasons women may have in the past. Most women today strive to put on makeup and try to dress nice simply because it gives themselves a sense of beauty, they are not doing it to gain attention to approval from others. I feel that in the past and in past societies, women sought beauty in order to be desirable and sought after. But in the end, all should feel beautiful no matter the expectations.
Johnanthony Hernandez
Interesting to see that the ancient Egyptians may have been as or more so concerned about their appearance as we are today. It makes me want to reexamine everything that I have learned over the years about the culture and social standing of ancient Egypt so that I might get a better understanding of their beauty crazy. In doing so I might better understand today’s beauty crazy, because it seems that they have many of the same attributes. Was it just a power and social thing or was it all around that each person wanted to be a part of, much like today. Great article, I did not know anything behind why they did the things they did to enhance their appearance until I read your article.
Priscilla Reyes
How interesting to find a stance on physical beauty through artwork and statues! Thank you for your article. Now that I think about it, I’ve always pictured an Egyptian woman young, because that is how they are mostly depicted. It Is crazy to think how focused and detail oriented they were with things concerning beauty.
I liked your conclusion and the questions you asked through out the article, by the way!
Teresa Valdez
It is a relief to be informed that people in our history have always sought ways to enhance their looks. It makes me feel better about my efforts to think that even that long ago, women wore similar makeup. This article was filled with great applicable example that made it easier for me to recognize how much the Egyptians valued beauty. Beautiful article!
Erick Paul Martinez
Great article, the images you used demonstrated the desire of beauty and perfection in Ancient Egypt. The sculptures reflect the features that were ideal and even resemble royalty. It is also interesting to see how Nerfetiti was not only beautiful, but she was powerful. This is very similar to women today, beauty is important to all. Women go to great lengths to be what they believe is beautiful.