How ancient Egypt shaped our idea of beauty
How ancient Egypt shaped our idea of beauty Pop culture is steeped in images of smoky-eyed pharaohs and their queens. Were the ancient Egyptians insufferably vain – or are we simply projecting our own values onto them? Alastair Sooke investigates. Walking around Beyond Beauty, the new exhibition organised by charitable foundation the Bulldog Trust in the neo-Gothic mansion of Two Temple Place in central London, you would be forgiven for thinking that the ancient Egyptians were insufferably vain. Many of the 350 exhibits, drawn from the overlooked collections of Britain’s regional museums, consist of what we would call beauty products, of one sort or another. There are dinky combs and handheld mirrors made of copper alloy or, more rarely, silver. There are siltstone palettes, carved to resemble animals, which were used for grinding minerals such as green malachite and kohl for eye makeup. Ancient Egyptians of both sexes apparently went to great lengths to touch up their appeara...