Inscribed Headrest
Description
Object Label: The standard Egyptian headrest—the equivalent of the modern pillow—consisted of a curved neck support atop a pillar on an oblong base. When a head rested on a support, the combination of round and curved forms resembled the morning sun rising between two peaks, which is also the hieroglyph for “horizon.” Thus the sleeper was connected to the sunrise, a potent symbol of resurrection. Some modern Africans, particularly in Mali and Kenya, still sleep on headrests identical in design to ancient Egyptian examples. Caption: Inscribed Headrest, ca. 1818–1700 B.C.E.. Wood, 9 x 9 3/8 x 4 7/16 in. (22.8 x 23.8 x 11.2 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Gift of the Egypt Exploration Fund, 14.650. (Photo: Brooklyn Museum)
The same text in other collections
Linked by shared inventory number
(BKM-Object 3116).
Each record below describes this same artifact or text from a different angle.
- Brooklyn 14.650 PNM textQasr el-Sagha
AI image analysis GPT-5.4-nano
Machine-generated from the object's image on Jul 2026. Not curatorial; treat deities, names, and signs below as the model's best reading, not authority.
A carved, baluster-shaped Egyptian headrest with a broad curved top and a vertical face containing incised ornament and column-like markings.
The artifact is a wooden headrest shown front-on against a plain light background. It has a wide, boat-like curved top surface, narrowing into a central stem, and flaring outward at the base into two broad “shoulders.” On the central front face of the stem there is a vertical panel with incised/raised decorative elements that resemble a stack of hieroglyphic signs or a short inscription arranged in a column; some figures/signs are visible but not clearly enough to read confidently. No clearly identifiable cartouches, crowns, or royal titulary are legible from this image. No Greek, Coptic, or Arabic text is visible. The overall surface shows tool marks and weathering consistent with an older carved wooden object.
Cross-references (3)
- BKM-Accession 14.650 tier-2
- BKM-Object 3116 tier-2
- PNM-Object pnm:83890974 tier-2 (inventory-match)
About this record's data
- From the source institution — accession, description, dimensions, and dating are as catalogued by Brooklyn Museum — Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art.
- AI-inferred — the image-analysis panel (deities, names, signs) is machine-generated and may be wrong.
- Approximate location — most map points are plotted at the site centroid, not the exact findspot.
- Inferred links — cross-references marked with a match method other than explicit-source-field were matched by us, not stated by the source.