A ‘KOHL BOX’ FROM THE CILICIAN PLAIN IN THE FRAME OF THE ANALYTICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

Abstract

This paper focuses on a Late Bronze Age ―kohl box‖ from Tepebağ Höyük (Plain Cilicia, Turkey), one of the
few well-dateable and securely-stratified examples of peculiar cosmetic containers found generally between
Egypt and the northern Levant. To date, this category of artefacts has received scant scientific attention, partly
because most known specimens come from museum collections or poorly-stratified contexts. The ―kohl
box‖ from Tepebağ Höyük is notable not only because it is well-dated (15th-3th centuries BCE), but also because
it is the earliest known example from Anatolia.
The piece under study is a rectangular basalt object decorated with zoomorphic motifs and characterised by
long narrow tubes containing residues of a black pigment. Morphological and chemical composition analyses
with Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) carried out on the residues
reveal high concentrations of lead sulphide. Based on textual evidence from Egypt as well as similar
chemical composition studies conducted on other similar finds, we can with confidence indicate that the
Tepebağ Höyük example contained kohl.
An ethno-archaeological study of modern kohl manufacture in south-eastern Turkey further corroborates
this hypothesis and provides interesting details regarding the possible secondary ingredients in kohl recipes.
In addition, it confirms ancient sources that mention kohl also being an effective treatment against ophthalmic
ailments.