Headrest of Khentika

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This stone headrest was excavated in a wealthy official’s tomb. It appears to have been designed solely for use in the afterlife as its components—pillow, column, and base—were glued together instead of joined using a mortise and tenon mechanism that structured the more common wood examples. Headrests mimicked the sun (the head) rising in the horizon (the headrest’s pillow). Therefore, waking up would have been seen as rebirth for the sleeper, like the sun’s morning appearance was for the world. Many headrests show wear and have impressions from, or actual scraps of attached linen, indicating they were padded for comfort. Although pillows existed, a headrest was cooler and elevated the sleeper’s face away from the insects and scorpions that prowled in the night.

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