It's absolutely fascinating that Neanderthals wore make-up. I wonder what their aesthetic preferences were? And whether their use of make up had symbolic or ceremonial significance, or if it was more "art for art's sake"?
Re: Middle East. President Johnson (LBJ) used to tell a story about haters: "A man decided he needed a new barn, so he hired a master carpenter to build one. The carpenter worked hard and eventually built the barn. Now, the man's mule took one look at the new barn and hated what he saw. So the mule started kicking the barn. He kicked and kicked until the barn collapsed." The moral of the story, Johnson would go on to say, was "It takes a master craftsman to build something positive, but any jack@ss can tear it down."