Photograph by Kenneth Garrett, National Geographic Stock

Cleopatra’s Eye Makeup Warded Off Infections?

Kate Ravilious

for National Geographic News

January 14, 2010

Cleopatra and her kin knew a thing or two about crafting an alluring smoky eye.

Now French researchers suggest that the ancient Egyptians’ heavily painted eyelids did more than attract admirers—they also protected against eye infections.

(Related: “Scorpion King’s Wines—Egypt’s Oldest—Spiked With Meds.”)

Artifacts and documents from ancient Egypt show that everyone, man or woman from servant to queen, wore black and green powders coated thickly around the eyes.

“People wore it on a daily basis,” said study co-author Christian Amatore, from the Université Pierre et Marie Curie in Paris, France.

According to ancient Egyptian manuscripts, the eye makeup was believed to have a magical role, in which the gods Horus and Ra would protect wearers against several illnesses.

Bacterial eye infections such as conjunctivitus, for example, would have been a common problem along the Nile’s tropical marshes.

But previous chemical analyses of powder residue, taken from ancient makeup containers, had isolated four lead-based compounds.

That would seem to suggest that the makeup was harmful, since lead can be highly toxic to humans.

Makeup’s “Magic” Required Hard Work

Instead, the new study found that the low doses of lead salts in the makeup may have actually had beneficial properties: When the salts come into contact with skin, they boost the body’s production of nitric oxide.

This chemical is known to stimulate the immune system and help fight off disease-causing bacteria.

Based on the amount of the lead compounds in the ancient makeup, a wearer’s nitric oxide levels would have increased by 240 percent, the study found.

“Two of these chemicals do not occur naturally, and would have taken 30 days of hard work to make,” Amatore said.

“In my opinion, [the ancient Egyptians] were aware that these compounds brought good health, and they were making them on purpose.”

The research is detailed in the January 15, 2010, issue of the journalAnalytical Chemistry.

While noted for her beauty, Vashti was loved by the Persians. But her actions towards the Jews, found her less than favorable in their eyes. She was accused of forcing Jewish maids to disrobe and work in the nude on the Shabbat. She was also known for her cruelty and arrogant behavior towards the Jewish people and vowed to deny their return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple her grandfather destroyed. This gives you a tidbit into Vashti’s character and the impression she was neither a modest woman nor did she hold the virtue in high regard.

King Xerxes held a 7 day feast with the Shushan subjects. The Queen, in her chambers, held a replica feast for the royal ladies at court (some say as a protest to the King). On the 7^th day of the festivities the King called for Vashti to appear before is court wearing the Royal Crown. While some text state that Vashti was summons wearing ONLY the Royal Crown and nothing else, other state that she was simply asked to appear wearing the crown (while clothed) and to dance. Either way, Xerxes wanted to show his now drunken subjects her world renowned beauty.

Vashti was appalled by the King’s request. Having to much pride and royal dignity to parade before her husbands guest, Vashti flatly refused the King. Furious, King Xerxes sought the advise of his lawyers and royal advisor’s. It was quickly decided that if the Queen would not obey her husband the King, then the wives of Persia will follow her lead and start to revolt against their husbands. Not accepting his wife’s humiliation, King Xerxes stated that Vashti was to never again come before the King.

Now what happens to Vashti after this point is not exactly clear. It is generally believed that she was now divorced from the King and banished from the palace. While some say she was beheaded for her defiance, it is thought that would have been too extreme of a punishment for the time and banishment is more widely accepted among historians.

I must comment, this entry has been delayed in its posting due to the fact I have spent hours upon hours searching for what happened to Vashti after the King ordered her to leave. It is nice to think she married again and began a new life, maybe in a different country. But it is very ironic that someone who believed in the displacement of a people was displaced herself. A little bit of ancient Karma.

Of course you will find the short story of Queen Vashti in the Book of Ester in the Bible, but please note this post is not a religious post.  This is a post about Vashti herself as a person and who she was.

After the conquest of Egypt by the Roman Emperor Octavian, Antony feared his Cleopatra VIII had betrayed him, thus thrusting himself into committing suicide. After hearing the ill fate of her lover, and of Octavian’s victory over Egypt, Cleopatra VII refused to submit to imperial rule and sent her children to safety life. She then followed her lover Antony to an early death.

Cleopatra VII eldest child Caesarian, by Julius Caesar, was tricked after his mothers death to return to Alexandria. Upon his arrival he was assassinated by Octavian due to his claim to not only the Egyptian throne, but also the throne of Rome.

The three surviving orphans of Cleopatra VII, Cleopatra Selene, Alexander Helios, and their younger brother Ptolemy Philadelphus, were captured by Octavian. They were gilded with heavy golden chains and paraded around in public humiliation. The weight of the chains is said to be so great, that the three poor children could hardly walk.

Following Antony’s practice of sparing royal lives after capture, Octavian sent the orphans to live with their fathers ex-wife and Octavian’s sister, Octavia Minor. Here they grew up with the following children:

• Julia ( the only natural child of Octavian by his second wife Scribonia)
• Tiberius and Claudius Prusus ( the two sons of Octavian’s by his wife Livia and her first husband Tiberius Claudius Nero)
• Marcellus and Marcella ( the son and daughter of Octavia with her first husband Gauis Claudius Marcellus Major)
• Antonia Major and Antonia Minor (the two daughters of Marc Antony and his second wife Octavia Minor, these are also Cleopatra Selene’s half sisters)
• Julius Antonius ( the son of Marc Antony by his third wife Fulvia, this was also Cleopatra Selene’s half brother)

When Cleopatra Selene reached 20, she was arranged to marry the African King Juba II of Numidia. For her marriage, she was given a large dowry and the title of Queenship to Numidia. In return, she was to become an ally of Rome. What the fait of her two surviving brothers is unknown for their names disappear from history. The thought or speciation that Octavian had them assassinated is not widely accepted. He had already spared their lives and secured his throne. It is thought that the two boys fell victim to an illness in Rome.

After her marriage, Cleopatra Selene and her new husband traveled back to Numidia, where their Kingship was short lived. The citizens of Numidia revolted against their king, claiming he had become to Romanized. This upheaval caused the Royal couple to flee to Mauretania where they settled in the capitol of Iol ( now Cherchel, Algeria) and renamed it Caesaria to show their support of Rome and it Emperor.

What is known of Cleopatra’s life after this point is brief, little surviving information is available. It is known however that in Mauretania she because a great influence in politics and exercised the policies her husband created. During this time, Mauretania flourished exporting trade goods well throughout the Mediterranean world. Great buildings were also constructed in the traditional Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles. One such building that still exist today is the mausoleum the royal couple built for themselves in modern day Algeria.

During the duration of their marriage, Cleopatra Selene and her husband had three children:

• Cleopatra of Mauretania
• Ptolemy of Mauretania
• Drusilla of Mauretania

Cleopatra Selene inhearted her iron will and strength from her mother. She celebrated her Egyptian and Greek heritage and sought to retain her Ptolemaic Legacy, while ignoring her Roman heritage.

After her death she is thought to be interred in the Royal mosulieam her husband and her built in their hayday. It is also said that after Juba II death, he was interred next to his first wife (he remarried briefly after her death), as a reminder of their eternal devotion. In true Egyptian fashion, Cleopatra was the Great Royal Wife, Cleopatra Selene of Mauretania.

The moon herself grew dark, rising at sunset,

Covering her suffering in the night,

Because she saw her beautiful namesake, Selene,

Breathless, descending to Hades,

With her she had had the beauty of her light in common,

And mingled her own darkness with her death.

Further Reading:

Cleopatra’s Daughter: A Novel

The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene

Cleopatra: A Sourcebook

The Memoirs of Cleopatra: A Novel

Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt