PAINTING THE EYES,' or rather the eyelids, is more than once alluded to in Scripture, although this scarcely appears in the A. V., as our trans.
lators, unaware of the custom, usually render eye' by `face,' although eye' is still preserved in the margin, So Jezebel painted her eyes,' literally, put her eyes in paint,' before she shewed herself publicly (2 Kings ix. 30). This action is forcibly expressed by Jeremiah (iv. 30), though thou rentest thine eyes with painting.' Ezekiel (xxiii. 40) also represents this as a part of high dress—' For whom thou didst wash thyself, paintedst thy eyes, and deckedst thyself with orna ments.' The custom is also, very possibly, alluded to in Prov. vi. 23—' Lust not after her beauty in thine heart, neither let her take thee with her eye lids.' It certainly is the general impression in Western Asia that this embellishment adds much to the languishing expression and seducement of the eyes, although Europeans find some difficulty in appreciating the beauty which the Orientals find in this adornment.
The following description of the process is from Mr. Lane's excellent work on the Modern Egyp tians (i. 4r-43) : 'The eyes, with very few excep tions, are black, large, and of a long almond form, with long and beautiful lashes and an exquisitely soft, bewitching expression : eyes more beautiful can hardly be conceived ; their charming effect is much heightened by the concealment of the other features (however pleasing the latter may be), and is rendered still more striking by a practice univer sal among the females of the higher and middle classes, and very common among those of the lower orders, which is that of blackening the edge of the eyelids, both above and below the eyes, with a black powder called kohhl. This is a collyrium, commonly composed of the smoke-black which is produced by burning a kind of 5Mm—an aromatic resin—a species of frankincense, used, I am told, in preference to the better kind of frankincense, as being cheaper, and equally good for the purpose. Kohhl is also prepared of the smoke-black pro duced from burning the shells of almonds. These two kinds, though believed to be beneficial to the eyes, are used merely for ornament ; but there are several kinds used for their real or supposed medi cal properties ; particularly the powder of several kinds of lead ore ; to which are often added sar cocolla, long pepper, sugar-candy, fine dust of a Venetian sequin, and sometimes powdered pearls. Antimony, it is said, was formerly used for paint ing the edges of the eyelids. The kohhl is applied with a small probe, of wood, ivory, or silver, tapering towards the end, but blunt ; this is moistened, sometimes with rose-water, then dipped in the powder, and drawn along the edges of the eyelids ; it is called mir'wed; and the glass vessel in which the kohhl is kept, /nook hhol'ah. The custom of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among both sexes in Egypt in very ancient times ; this is shewn by the sculptures and paintings in the temples and tombs of this country ; and kohhl vessels, with the probes, and even with the remains of the black powder, have often been found in the ancient tombs. I have two in my possession. But, in many cases, the ancient mode of ornamenting with the kohhl was a little different from the modern. I have, however, seen this ancient mode
practised in the present day in the neighbourhood of Cairo ; though I only remember to have noticed it in two instances. The same custom existed among the Greek ladies, and among the Jewish women in early times.' Sir J. G. Wilkinson alludes to this passage in Mr. Lane's book, and admits that the lengthened form of the ancient Egyptian eye, represented in the paintings, was probably produced by this means. Such (he adds) is the effect described by Juvenal (Sat. ii. 93), Pliny (Ep. vi. 2), and other writers who notice the custom among the Romans. At Rome it was considered disgraceful for men to adopt it, as at present in the East, except medici nally,* but if we may judge from the similarity of the eyes of men and women in the paintings at Thebes, it appears to have been used by both sexes among the ancient Egyptians. Many of the kohhl bottles have been found in the tombs, together with the bodkin used for applying the moistened powder. They are of various materials, usually of stone, wood, or pottery ; sometimes composed of two, sometimes of three or four separate cells, ap parently containing each a mixture, differing slightly in its quality and hue from the other three. Many were simple round tubes, vases, or small boxes ; some were ornamented with the figure of an ape or monster, supposed to assist in holding the bottle between his arms, while the lady dipped into it the pin with which she painted her eyes ; and others were in imitation of a column made of stale, or rich porcelain of the choicest manufac ture' (Ancient Egyptians, iii. 3S2).—J. K.
EZ (Ty). This word is generally said to denote the she-goat; and in several passages it is edly so used (comp. Gen. xxxi. 38 ; xxxii. tzt ; Num. xv. 27) ; but it is equally certain that it is used also to denote the he-goat (comp. Exod. xii. 5 ; Lev. iv. 23 ; Num. xxviii. 15 ; 2 Chron. xxix. 21; Dan. viii. 5, 8, etc.) In most of the passages in which it occurs, it may denote either the male or the female animal. It is used also to designate a kid (Gen. xv. 9). From this we are led to con clude that properly it is the generic designation of the animal in its domestic state, a conclusion which seems to be fully established by such usages as •: CV, a kid of the goats, tilllrly1, the goat, i.e., any of the goat species (Gen. xxvii. 9 ; Deut. xiv. 4). Bochart (ifieroz, bk. ii. c. 51) derives the word 13.? from fj,f strength, might ; Gesenius and Furst prefer tracing it to T131, to strengthen or become strong; in either case the ground-idea is the superior strength of the goat as compared with the sheep ; Syr. Ill.; Arab. ;La, where the A repre sents the rejected T of 1l31 ; Phoen. Oz, of which Ozza or Azza is the feminine form. Whether there is any affinity between this and the Sansc. eiga, fern. asa, Gr. atE, city-67 Goth. gaitan, and our goat, may be doubted. In the LXX., TY is usually re presented by al;, in a few instances by gptcpos ; when ?'1V is used to denote goat's hair (as in Exod. xxvi. 7 ; xxxvi. 14; Num. xxxi. zo) the LXX. use Kbrevos, rp1 way, or at-yEtos ; in I Sam. xix. 13 they give the strange rendering *rap ai-yeiiv, reading 137 for V= (comp. Joseph. Antiq. vi. II. 4.)