What mineral was ground to produce green eyeshadow in ancient Egypt?

The mineral ground to produce green eyeshadow in ancient Egypt was malachite.

Malachite is a vivid green copper carbonate mineral that can be crushed into a pigment. Ancient Egyptians used the resulting green powder in eye cosmetics, commonly called udju. The pigment was applied around the eyes for color and symbolism, and cosmetics in Egyptian culture often had religious, protective, and medicinal associations as well as decorative ones.

Malachite is easy to mix up with galena, but galena is a dark gray lead sulfide mineral used for black kohl, another famous Egyptian eye cosmetic. Lapis lazuli is blue and was prized for jewelry and pigments, while azurite is a related copper mineral that is usually blue rather than the characteristic green of malachite.

Egyptian sources obtained malachite from mining regions including the Sinai Peninsula. Evidence places the use of Sinai malachite in Egyptian cosmetics as early as about 3000 BC. Green also carried powerful associations: Egyptian symbolism connected it with vegetation, fertility, renewal, and resurrection. Cosmetic palettes and pigment residues found in tombs show that eye makeup was an important part of daily life and burial practice.