Headrest amulet

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Full-size headrests supported the neck of a sleeping person and were often decorated with protective symbols; examples were also placed in the tomb. Headrest amulets were exclusively used as funerary amulets. In addition to their protective function, further meaning derived from the formal resemblance between the round head on the curved headrest and the sun rising between two hills, a powerful symbol of resurrection and rebirth for the ancient Egyptians. Headrest amulets were meant to protect the head of the deceased and reinsure his or her rebirth.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.

Metropolitan Museum of Art