Tuesday, February 2, 2010;
HE03
The eyes have it
The thick black eye makeup worn by Egyptian men and women during the time of the pharaohs was not just for beauty. According to researchers with the Louvre and the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, the distinctive makeup, so clearly portrayed on the famous death mask of King Tut, contained lead-based substances that very probably protected the wearers against common eye ailments.
Ancient Egyptians apparently believed that if a person wore the eye makeup, he or she "could be directly protected by [the gods] Horus and Ra against several illnesses," the researchers wrote in a paper published last month in Analytical Chemistry, the journal of the American Chemical Society. That belief, they said, turned out to be based on more than myth.
After analyzing 52 samples from ancient Egyptian makeup pots preserved at the Louvre, the researchers said, they found four lead-based substances that, when cultured with human cells, boosted the cells' production of nitric oxide. Nitric oxide stimulates the immune system to help it fight the bacterial infections common in tropical marshy areas such as the Nile during its massive annual floods, the researchers wrote.
"The present data thus establish that the eyes of Egyptians bearing the black makeup were presumably prone to immediately resist a sudden bacterial contamination with extreme efficiency through the spontaneous action of their own immune cells," they wrote.
They said the lead salts in the makeup were not those found naturally in and around Egypt, but had to have been laboriously synthesized by ancient Egyptians over a period of weeks. The researchers speculated that these "chemists" recognized that when the compound they created was being used in makeup paste, "their bearers were enjoying better health."
But "whether or not the manufacture of these lead chlorides was deliberately connected to preventive health care by Egyptians," the researchers wrote, "it is clear that such intentional production remains the first known example of a large scale chemic process."
-- Margaret Shapiro
Post a Comment
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.