Where the ancient Egyptian headrests comfortable for sleeping?
Headrests are found, unchanged in their particular "design," throughout Egyptian history and their very name qualifies their function. They are items with a characteristic structure that I am not aware were ever used in other ancient cultures.
I have always wondered if they were part of daily life or if, instead, they were items used during funeral ceremonies. Indeed, if used for sleeping, they must have been extremely uncomfortable.
Besides forcing the sleeper into a forced supine position, the central support, although rather massive, was certainly unstable in a latitudinal sense and thus prevented any possible movement during sleep, and even the addition of pillows could hardly improve its stability.
All in all, a very effective tool to succeed in getting torticollis and, over time, painful cervical afflictions! This seems strange to me for a culture such as the Egyptians, who were certainly on the cutting edge of technology.
Such an object could have been justified only if the user wore particularly elaborate hairstyles, such that they would be ruined if placed on a pillow. Whereas, on the other hand, the ancient Egyptians used, for the most part, to have shaved skulls.
It would be different if the headrests had been used during funeral ceremonies, to support the mummy's head. I wonder if this subject has been studied in depth and if there are iconographies and literature on the subject.
