Kohl pot

Kohl pot

[The body beautiful, 37]

It was common for both men and women in ancient Egypt to wear make-up, such as kohl—once held in this pot—around the eyes. This was especially prominent in the New Kingdom, where there was little emphasis on constructed gender roles, and both men and women wore the same make-up and jewellery and did equally laborious work indoors and outdoors. The fifth Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty, Hatshepsut (she/her)—who reigned c. 1479 to 1458 _BCE—used this to her advantage when she transitioned from Queen to the male role of Pharaoh, although there was little precedent for women holding high-status roles. She did not bow to expectations of her traditionally male authority. She rather enacted gender non-conformity in her reign and image. Hatshepsut asserted herself as armed with male weaponry and dress whilst reinventing the identity of the Pharaoh.