Ancient Egyptians were always aware of how appearances matter, where beauty and elegance were the top concern. And in every portrait the focus was always on the meticulously and beautifully outlined eyes that stood out and captured the world. During all periods and dynasties of ancient Egyptians, both men and women, applied eye makeup on a daily prerequisite. It did not only serve as a decorative purpose but it also served medicinal, magical and spiritual practices.
Two eye makeup colors were popular with the ancient Egyptians, the green and the black. Eye makeup was not a luxury reserved for the rich, but even the humblest graves proved to contain some. It was not the existence of makeup that separated rich from poor, but the expense and luxury of the containers and applicators. The eye color was found stored in leather or canvas pouches, small jars, conch shells or within hollow reeds. While the poor used to store it in hollow sticks, the rich used intricately carved and bejeweled containers of ivory or other precious materials.
There were two types of eye color, green "Udju" and black "Mesdemet". Udju was made from green malachite which is the vibrant green ore of copper (copper carbonate hydroxide) and was mined from the Sinai Desert. These mines came under the spiritual domain of the goddess Hathor, ancient goddess of beauty, joy, love and women. She bore the epithet "Lady of Malachite." The malachite stone was crushed and then mixed as the green eye make up. It was especially popular in the Old Kingdom, and right through the Middle Kingdom, but towards the New Kingdom it was replace almost completely by the black color.
Black eye color Mesdemet, was obtained from galena, which is the dark blue-grey ore of lead (lead sulphide). It was obtained either near Aswan in Upper Egypt or at the Red Sea Coast. It was also one of the things that was imported back by Pharaoh Hatshepsut's famed expedition to Punt and was given to her in tribute by the Asiatic nomads. One of the earliest uses of galena was as Kohl. Kohl is a mixture of soot and galena. It gained popularity over the green malachite during the period of the New Kingdom. A small amount of the eye color was mixed with animal fats or even water to make it easier to paint on the face.
The ancient Egyptians used eye makeup not only for cosmetic reasons but also for their medical purposes. Galena possesses disinfectant and fly-deterrent properties. It also protected the eyes from the intense sun. Mesdmemet was prescribed to help cure a number of eye diseases. On the other hand Udju was believed to induce or evoke the eye of Horus, the god of the Sky & Sun and also the god of healing. So outlining the skin around the eye would protect its user, especially from the "evil eye". The Egyptian word for eye-palette was derived from their word for "protect." Kohl was used by mothers, which they applied to the eyes of infants after they were born, was believed to strengthen the child's eyes and protect him from being cursed by the "evil eye". This tradition is still practiced to this day, but in the rural parts of Egypt.
Today galena can be easily and inexpensively purchased but under the name Kohl. Outside of Egypt, it can be purchased from vendors that supply accessories to Eastern dancers. Real kohl usually comes in a little box containing a stick-like applicator and a compartment for the make up itself, so its appearance and way of application has not changed over the centuries. Today kohl can also be purchased in the form of a pencil which is a lot easier to apply.
So ancient Egyptian eye makeup did more than paint a pretty face! Although Kohl became a popular cosmetic once again during the 1920s, when an "Egyptian look" came into fashion in the United States and Europe, and it is still used as eyeliner in many Eastern countries.
About the Author:
Gawhara Hanem
Piety to the gods, preservation of the physical form through mummification, provision of statuary and other funerary equipment was as much an integral part of the religion as it ensured a safe journey to the afterlife. So the corpse had to be properly embalmed and entombed in a mastaba before it could live again in the Fields of Yalu and accompany the Sun on its daily ride.
Shu and Tefnut married and gave birth to Geb, the god of the Earth and is the place where the throne of the Pharaoh would be decided. They also gave birth to Nut, the goddess of the sky. So Above Geb arched Nut and separating them stood Shu. There also existed another space equivalent to the living world, called the Duat, this was considered as the underground and the place where the soul of the dead receives judgment. The sky beneath the Duat was formed by the feminine counterpart of Nu, Naunet. 
Geb and Nut then gave birth to Osiris, Isis, Seth, and Nephthys. Osiris became the symbol of good, while Seth became the symbol of evil. And thus the two poles of morality were fixed once and for all. Seth killed his brother Osiris, but with the help of his sister-wife Isis, Osiris was resurrected and became the god of the underworld.
In ancient times, Alexandria was one of the most famous cities in the world. Founded around a small pharaonic town it became and remained Egypt's capital for nearly a thousand years, until the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 641 AD when a new capital was founded at Fustat (Fustat was later absorbed into Cairo).
During Alexandria's heydays it was the leading cultural centre of the world, housing people of different religions and philosophical orientations. It was famous for the extensive library, which in the 3rd century BC was said to contain 500,000 volumes. Additionally, Alexandria was renowned for the lighthouse of Pharos, listed as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World as antiquity. Alexandria's Mouseion was a centre of research, with laboratories and observatories. Alexandria was the very first centre for Biblical studies, and it was where the Old Testament was assembled in a form very similar to its present one. The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, was produced there too plus it was also home to the largest Jewish community in the world, but most have now migrated to Israel. It was (and remains today) the seat of a patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Although Alexandria witnessed a 1,000 years of prosperity, it then fell into decline over a time span covering centuries, and when Napoleon landed, he found a sparsely populated fishing village. It wasn't until in 1819 the city gradually regained importance, when the Mahmudiyah Canal to the Nile was completed by Muhammad Ali Pasha (the Ottoman Governor of Egypt), who developed Alexandria as a deepwater port and a naval station.
Through out its history Alexandria has been invaded by many a different culture. Starting with Julius Caesar in 47 BC and was under Roman influence for more than a hundred years. With the persecution of pagans by newly Christian Romans, in 391 Emperor Theodosius I ordered the destruction of all pagan temples in Alexandria. In 619, Alexandria fell to the Sassanid Persians but was recovered by the Byzantine Emperor Heracles in 629, and in 641 the Arabs under the general Amr ibn al-As, captured it after a siege that lasted fourteen months. Napoleon's troops stormed the city on July 2, 1798 and it remained in their hands until in 1801 when the British expedition won a considerable victory over the French at the Battle of Alexandria, but after 6 months and a siege of the city it fell back to the French.
The city gradually regained some of its former glory after Mohammed Ali Pasha rebuilding the city around 1810. During the 17th century, the plague killed many of the cities inhabitants. Then again in July 1882 the city came under bombardment from British naval forces and was occupied. In July 1954, the city was a target of an Israeli bombing campaign that later became known as the Lavon Affair. Although during the 19th century many foreigners settled in Alexandria, and in 1907 they made up about 25% of the population. During World War II, as the chief Allied naval base in the Mediterranean, Alexandria was bombed by the Germans.
Although the cause of his death is still a mystery, Alexander the Great, the Macedonian King and great conqueror, died at the age of 33, on June 10, 323 BC in Babylon (modern Iraq).
Yes the cause of his death was a puzzle but the real enigma was the actual disappearance of Alexander the Great’s mummified body and tomb! No one can claim to have seen this tomb after the end of the 4th century and locating the place where Alexander is buried seems to have become an impossible mission for archeologists.
By which time Ptolemy Lagos, one of Alexander’s generals, had secured the wealthy territory of Egypt for himself, attacked the funerary procession carrying Alexander's body and redirecting it to Memphis in Egypt, where Alexander was initially buried. It was later moved by Ptolemy II Philadelphos, the son of the first Ptolemy, to Alexandria. After an elaborate ceremony, the body was laid to rest in a Mausoleum called Soma or Sema, an ancient Greek word meaning “dead Body”.
The tomb was eventually closed to the public by Septimus Severus (early third century AD) out of concern for its safety on account of the hoards of tourists who came to visit the site. By the 4th century, the location of Alexander's tomb was lost. The oblivion lasted until the 19th century, when the Egyptian astronomer Mahmud el-Falaki attempted to locate the tomb. According to El-Falaki the tomb would have been located under the mosque of Prophet Daniel, where he was not allowed to dig. But most archaeologist are convinced that he was buried in Alexandria, the city that he founded in Egypt.
Until today no one can be sure where the tomb of one of the greatest men who changed history lies, but besides Alexandria, there have been claims that he rests in Asia, Macedonia, and the Siwa Oasis. There has even been a wild allegation that Alexander the Great could be buried "down under" in Broome in Western Australia!