Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art · vessel

Undecorated Kohl Jar with Lid

Source of record: Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art — catalogued by the holding institution. View the original record →

Description

Object Label: Kohl, still in use in parts of the world today, was a black eyeliner worn by both men and women in ancient Egypt. It had multiple purposes—highlighting the eyes, reducing the glare of the sun, and repelling flies. When used as a cosmetic, kohl made the wearer more sexually attractive. Explicitly linked to physical conception in the tomb, kohl helped an Egyptian to be reborn. Caption: Undecorated Kohl Jar with Lid, ca. 1539–1292 B.C.E.. Faience, 1 3/4 x 1 7/8 in. (4.5 x 4.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.609a-b. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)

AI image analysis GPT-4o-2024-08-06

Machine-generated from the object's image on May 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.

A small blue faience jar with a lid.

The artifact depicted is a small, round jar with a fitted lid, crafted from blue faience. The surface is smoothly finished with a glossy glaze, typical of Egyptian faience work. The jar's simplicity and elegance suggests it might have been used to hold cosmetics or small personal items.

decorative unknown excellent
Materials faience

Connections

Materials Faience

Cross-references (2)

  • BKM-Accession 14.609a-b tier-2
  • BKM-Object 3107 tier-2
About this record's data
  • From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
  • AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
  • Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
  • Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.