An Iron Age cosmetic powder from Kani Koter in northwestern Iran owes its black colour chiefly to manganese oxides and natural graphite. The graphite is the important surprise: the study describes this combination as a previously unknown kohl recipe in the ancient record it reviewed. Possible black iron oxides and a small amount of clay were also identified.
The result does not show that every Iranian or Assyrian community used one formula, or that Egyptian kohl had a single recipe. It is one analysed sample, while Egyptian evidence includes many mineral and organic mixtures. The useful comparison is between documented samples: Kani Koter’s manganese-and-graphite mixture, and the broader variety recorded in Egypt and elsewhere.
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What the Kani Koter kohl contained
The material came from a black powder inside a ceramic cosmetic container placed in an Iron Age burial at Kani Koter, in Kurdistan Province, northwestern Iran. The paper identifies manganese black, mainly the mineral pyrolusite, together with natural graphite as the principal sources of the powder’s colour.
Manganese supplied most of the black pigment
Manganese oxides are familiar ingredients in ancient dark mineral mixtures. In this sample, the researchers’ mineralogical results point chiefly to pyrolusite, a manganese dioxide mineral. They also discuss possible black iron oxides and minor clay. Some clay minerals and other mineral grains could have come from the ceramic container rather than from the recipe itself, so the exact proportion of every component cannot be reconstructed.
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Natural graphite is the unusual ingredient
Graphite is a naturally occurring form of carbon with a layered, flaky structure. The Kani Koter study says natural graphite had not previously been identified as an ingredient in an ancient kohl recipe in the body of evidence it reviewed. That is why the finding is more than another example of mineral black makeup: it adds a distinct material combination to the known history of eye cosmetics.
Graphite should not be confused with a modern manufactured pigment simply because both are carbon-based. The paper reports naturally occurring graphite particles identified through its analytical programme. It does not establish a modern-style manufacturing process, a particular mine, or a documented trade route for the powder.
No organics were detected, but that is not proof they were never present
The analysis detected no organic constituents. Two explanations remain possible: the original powder may have been made entirely from inorganic materials, or plant- or animal-derived ingredients may have degraded during burial until they were no longer detectable. The evidence therefore supports the precise statement “no organic constituents were detected,” not the stronger claim that the ancient recipe contained none.
How the researchers identified the ingredients
The study used several complementary techniques rather than relying on the powder’s colour or appearance alone. The combination matters because pigments, clay contamination and weathering can look similar when examined with only one method.
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- X-ray powder diffraction: identifies crystalline mineral phases in the powder.
- Micro-X-ray fluorescence: maps and measures elemental signals in very small areas.
- Micro-Raman spectroscopy: distinguishes minerals through their characteristic vibrational signatures.
- Field-emission scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry: examines particle shapes and supplies local elemental information.
Together, these methods allowed the authors to associate the black colour mainly with manganese oxides and graphite while flagging possible iron oxides and clay. The larger ceramic container supplied the tested material. A second, smaller container was found in the same burial, but it held too little residue for analysis.
The archaeological setting changes how the result should be read
Kani Koter on the eastern edge of the Assyrian world
Kani Koter is a cemetery in the hills near Dere Pemeyan in northwestern Iran. The paper places it on the eastern fringes of the Assyrian Empire and near the area associated with the kingdom of Mannea. The setting is important because it connects the cosmetic to a zone where Iranian, Mannean and Assyrian cultural spheres met; it does not, by itself, assign the powder to one ethnic or political identity.
A looted tomb and a rich group of personal objects
The tested vessel came from a tomb that was looted and destroyed in 2016. Recovered grave goods subsequently entered the Archaeological Museum of Sanandaj. The assemblage included weapons, horse equipment, vessels, personal ornaments, a bronze mirror, earpicks, cosmetic containers and applicators. Human remains were lost, so the grave owner’s sex cannot be independently tested, and the authors note that more than one person may have been buried there.
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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallThose circumstances make the residue especially valuable: it preserves direct chemical evidence from a cosmetic container even though the burial’s skeletal and excavation context is incomplete. They also limit what can be inferred about who used the makeup, how it was applied or whether all the objects belonged to one individual.
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What “different from Egyptian kohl” actually means
Egyptian kohl is not a single standardized substance. Analyses of Egyptian material have documented varied recipes containing inorganic ingredients—often lead-based, but sometimes manganese- or silica-based—as well as organic components from plants or animals. A comparison with Egypt therefore concerns the ingredients documented in studied samples, not a national formula shared by every period and community.
| Evidence | What analyses report | What can reasonably be concluded |
|---|---|---|
| Kani Koter, Iron Age III, northwestern Iran | Manganese black, mainly pyrolusite, plus natural graphite; possible black iron oxides and minor clay | A distinctive manganese-and-graphite recipe in one analysed sample |
| Egyptian kohl samples discussed by the study | Several inorganic recipes, frequently lead-based, with some manganese- or silica-based examples; organic ingredients are also reported | Egyptian kohl was materially diverse, not uniform |
| Earlier Iranian samples from Shahdad and Shahr-i Sokhta | Lead-bearing compounds in previously published analyses | Earlier Iranian evidence is not chemically identical to Kani Koter |
| Hasanlu tube | Once identified as graphite, later determined to contain antimony oxide | A reminder that visual or preliminary identification can be revised by improved analysis |
On that evidence, the defensible contrast is narrow: Kani Koter adds a reported natural-graphite component to a manganese-rich black powder, whereas the Egyptian record contains a wider range of documented mineral and organic recipes. It would be inaccurate to turn this into “Iran used graphite and Egypt used lead” as a universal rule.
Related finds show regional recipe diversity
The Kani Koter result fits a broader pattern of changing and locally varied formulas across the ancient Middle East.
- Shahdad and Shahr-i Sokhta: earlier Iranian samples reviewed in the study contained lead-bearing compounds.
- Hasanlu: a tube once reported as containing graphite was later reidentified as antimony oxide, showing why mineral claims need modern, multi-method testing.
- Estark–Joshaqan: five Iron Age makeup containers held white, grey and orangish materials. Analyses found lead-based compounds with additions of manganese and iron oxides.
- Tutub in the Diyala region of Iraq: two earlier kohl samples were reported as manganese-rich.
- Kani Koter: the reported combination of manganese oxides and natural graphite is described as previously unknown in the ancient kohl record reviewed by the authors.
These examples do not form a neat map of national preferences. They show that ancient cosmetic makers could draw on different minerals, alter the colour and texture of a powder, or use materials that were available in a particular landscape.
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Could local geology explain the graphite?
The researchers note that graphite deposits occur in the Zagros region. They propose that local availability may have influenced the Kani Koter recipe, while stressing that this is an interpretation rather than proof of a specific supply chain. No mine, workshop or route connecting a deposit to the tomb has been demonstrated by the study.
The paper also discusses potential material properties that might have made graphite attractive. Its reflective qualities could give makeup a metallic appearance, and its flaky structure could help a powder adhere to skin. Those are plausible explanations based on graphite’s physical behaviour; they do not prove what the user intended or how the cosmetic looked in use.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the powder reveals about Iron Age appearance
The container and associated applicators place eye makeup among a larger set of appearance and grooming objects. A bronze mirror and earpicks in the same assemblage suggest attention to personal presentation, but the lost human remains prevent a direct biological identification of the person or people buried there. The residue gives a material answer—what the powder contained—without supplying a complete social biography of its user.
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The study’s authors describe the work as the first material insight into the actual composition of kohl in the broader Assyrian cultural zone. That wording is deliberately specific. It marks a gap being filled by direct chemical analysis, not a claim that Kani Koter represents every cosmetic practice under Assyrian influence.
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What is established, and what remains uncertain
| Question | Best-supported answer |
|---|---|
| What made the sample black? | Chiefly manganese oxides, mainly pyrolusite, and natural graphite. |
| Were iron oxides or clay present? | Possible black iron oxides and minor clay were reported; some clay may derive from the container. |
| Were plant or animal ingredients used? | No organic constituents were detected. Original organics cannot be ruled out because they may have degraded. |
| Was this the standard Iranian recipe? | Not established. The result comes from one analysed powder. |
| Does it prove a sharp Iran–Egypt divide? | No. Egyptian and Iranian evidence both show recipe variation; the comparison is between documented samples. |
| Where did the graphite come from? | The study notes Zagros deposits as a possible source region but does not prove a mine or trade route. |
| How common was this formula? | Not stated. The cemetery’s wider settlement has not been excavated, and the study does not provide a prevalence dataset. |
Why more analysis is needed
The Kani Koter cemetery’s broader settlement has not been excavated. Other kohl containers from the cemetery, and comparable containers from the Assyrian heartland, have not had their contents analysed in the comparisons discussed by the authors. The second container from the tomb also lacked enough material for testing.
Future samples could show whether the manganese-and-graphite mixture was a local choice, a rare experiment, or part of a wider tradition. They could also clarify how often organic binders were used and whether residues identified as clay came from recipes, vessels or burial contamination. Until such material is analysed, the Kani Koter powder should remain a significant case study rather than a cultural average.
The bottom line on Iranian and Egyptian kohl
Kani Koter provides direct evidence for an Iron Age black eye cosmetic made chiefly with manganese oxides and natural graphite. The graphite is the novel feature identified by the study, while the absence of detected organics must be interpreted cautiously. Egyptian kohl evidence is also diverse, so the most accurate conclusion is not that Iran and Egypt had completely separate formulas, but that ancient communities used different mineral and organic recipes shaped by local materials and circumstances.
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The peer-reviewed study is Silvia Amicone and colleagues, “Eye makeup in Northwestern Iran at the time of the Assyrian Empire: a new kohl recipe based on manganese and graphite from Kani Koter (Iron Age III),” first published online on 31 May 2025 and issued in Archaeometry volume 68, supplement 1, pages S7–S21 in 2026. The article is available at https://doi.org/10.1111/arcm.13097 and the journal page. A contemporaneous explanation and quotation from Silvia Amicone appears in Chemistry World at https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/unique-iron-age-kohl-from-iran-differs-from-that-of-ancient-egypt/4021844.article.
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