A 'KOHL BOX' FROM THE CILICIAN PLAIN IN THE FRAME OF THE ANALYTICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE.

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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]