Science café: Beauty in the age of the Pharaohs

In conjunction with the "Parfums d'Egypte" exhibition, Egyptologists and chemists participated in a discussion open to the public about beauty among the Egyptians.

Sydney Aufrère, director of the Centre d'égyptologie at the University of Montpellier, Hélène Desvals, research engineer at the Madirel laboratory (UMR CNRS and the University of Provence), prehistorian Gérard Onoratini, Gisèle Piérini, adjunct curator of the exhibition, and Jehane Ragaï, professor of chemistry at the American University in Cairo, address the following subjects: the places where the perfumes and unguents were produced; the pharmaceutical effects and dangers of these products; the uses of oils and perfumes; the colors of cosmetics and make-up and their meaning; embalming techniques.