A newly published scientific analysis has identified a previously unknown formula for ancient eye makeup used in northwestern Iran during the time of the Assyrian Empire. The findings appear in the June 2025 issue of the journal Archaeometry and were authored by Stefania Amicone of the University of Tübingen and the Department of Antiquities of the National Museum of Iran.
The study focuses on a cosmetic material discovered in a stone vessel in tomb A44 at Hasanlu, a site in northwest Iran destroyed in the late 9th century BCE. According to Amicone, the composition of the black substance within the vessel differs from known kohl recipes in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
“The present study identifies a new kohl recipe composed mainly of lead(-bearing) carbonates mixed with plant oil and wax,” Amicone writes. Laboratory analyses, including X-ray diffraction and FTIR spectroscopy, showed that the material consisted primarily of cerussite and traces of galena, along with fatty acids and cholesterol from organic sources.
This mixture, according to the research, “does not correspond to any known kohl composition from the Mesopotamian world,” making it the first scientifically documented case of this specific formulation in the region.
The vessel itself was found in a burial that contained the remains of a woman. The author notes that this discovery “provides the first known archaeological evidence for the use of kohl at Hasanlu,” and contributes to understanding “local recipes, production, and use of makeup” in Iron Age Iran.
The study also discusses how the material may have been manufactured, proposing a cold mixing of ingredients rather than heating, based on the preservation of heat-sensitive compounds in the sample.
The research was published in Archaeometry, a peer-reviewed journal of the Society for Archaeological Sciences and the Research Laboratory for Archaeology and the History of Art at the University of Oxford.
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