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Sometimes, A Hat Is Just A Hat
Two figures wearing head cones in a wall painting from Akhetaten, Egypt
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/these-mysterious-egyptian-head-cones-actually-existed-grave-find-reveals?utm_campaign=ACohen&utm_source=AAAS&utm_medium=Facebook
These mysterious Egyptian head cones actually existed, grave find reveals
Look closely at paintings of ancient Egyptians and you might spot something strange: cones the size of a coffee cup sitting atop some of their heads. The objects have long baffled archaeologists, many of whom have wondered whether they were merely a symbol. Now, a new study finds these “head cones” were indeed real: Researchers have recovered two of the curious accoutrements in burials dating back 3300 years.
Archaeologists made the discoveries at Akhetaten, one of ancient Egypt’s most unusual cities. The site was occupied for no more than about 15 years during the 14th century B.C.E. while Egypt was under the rule of the pharaoh who gave the location its name, Akhenaten. He developed a short-lived (and, in the eyes of later pharaohs, heretical) religious system focused on the worship of a single god, represented by the Sun. He may also have been Tutankhamun’s father.
The two head cones come from low-status graves in a workers’ cemetery. One grave was much better preserved than the other, which had been rifled through by grave robbers. Both bodies still carried full heads of hair, each with a head cone tangled up in the tresses, the team reports today in Antiquity. The cones were cream-colored and seemed to be made of beeswax; both were about 8 centimeters tall. They were also in poor condition, full of holes where insects had tunneled through them.
The discoveries may help put to rest the symbolism theory—the idea that the cones were simply a way for artists to denote a wearer’s special status, like the halos used to signify holiness in Christian art.
Look closely at paintings of ancient Egyptians and you might spot something strange: cones the size of a coffee cup sitting atop some of their heads. The objects have long baffled archaeologists, many of whom have wondered whether they were merely a symbol. Now, a new study finds these “head cones” were indeed real: Researchers have recovered two of the curious accoutrements in burials dating back 3300 years.
Archaeologists made the discoveries at Akhetaten, one of ancient Egypt’s most unusual cities. The site was occupied for no more than about 15 years during the 14th century B.C.E. while Egypt was under the rule of the pharaoh who gave the location its name, Akhenaten. He developed a short-lived (and, in the eyes of later pharaohs, heretical) religious system focused on the worship of a single god, represented by the Sun. He may also have been Tutankhamun’s father.
The two head cones come from low-status graves in a workers’ cemetery. One grave was much better preserved than the other, which had been rifled through by grave robbers. Both bodies still carried full heads of hair, each with a head cone tangled up in the tresses, the team reports today in Antiquity. The cones were cream-colored and seemed to be made of beeswax; both were about 8 centimeters tall. They were also in poor condition, full of holes where insects had tunneled through them.
The discoveries may help put to rest the symbolism theory—the idea that the cones were simply a way for artists to denote a wearer’s special status, like the halos used to signify holiness in Christian art.
~more at link (The last line of the article used as OP title)
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