Abstract
Egyptian Head-rests, Among recent acquisitions noted in the British Museum Quarterly, vol. 8, pt 3, is a small collection of Egyptian objects of exceptional interest which are described by Mr. S. R. K. Glanville. Among these are two head-rests, of which one of limestone is reported to have come from Dair Mawas, on the other side of the river from Al-Amarnah. It is remarkable both for its form and its decoration. It is adapted from the type with octagonal fluted column found commonly in the Eighteenth Dynasty and more rarely in the Fourteenth. The space between the horns of the rest proper and the base has been only partially cut away, so as to leave a panel of stone on either side of the shaft. This minimised the risk of breaking off the tips of the rest. These panels have been decorated in low relief with four figures, one on each side of the shaft. On what is probably the front of the head-rest two figures of Bes face inward to the support. The figure on the right brandishes a serpent in his left hand and carries a spear in the other. Two more snakes are held beneath his teeth. He wears the lotus flower, often shown on the head of Bes and Taurt in the Eighteenth Dynasty. A hieroglyphic inscription down the centre reads: “Good Sleeping in the West, the Land of Righteousness, by the Royal Scribe Qenherkhepeshef, justified”. On the back of the rest a griffin on the left, with lotus flower headdress, faces a lioness eating a snake. Both rest their feet on conical supports and are armed with knives. Two more inscriptions run down the edges of the panels, of which one survives in a mutilated state. The four figures are reminiscent of those on carved ivory wands of the Seventh to Eighteenth Dynasties, the use of which is still debated. If the head-rest is to be dated to the Eighteenth to Nineteenth Dynasty, this is the earliest representation of Bes with a spear, giving him a warlike character. The magical character of the figures and the inscriptions indicate that the head-rest was part of the tomb furniture and not for ordinary use.
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Research Items. Nature 133, 763–765 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/133763a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/133763a0