COMPOSITE BEDSIDE TABLE Composed of three pieces of wood, in the shape of a hieroglyph for the horizon. The crescent-shaped top is supported by a pair of hands with long, tapering fingers. In addition to its everyday use, the bedside table was already part of the funerary trousseau in the Old Kingdom. Made from a variety of materials (wood, alabaster, earthenware, ivory, etc.), it was sometimes decorated with images and propitiatory texts. Funerary books equate the headstone with the horizon, with the head raised and lying on its side like the sun rising above the rolling horizon. Its magical role as protector of the head of the deceased is often mentioned (Sarcophagus texts and later chapter 166 of the Book of the Dead). In the Late Period, small amulets in the shape of a bedside table highlighted its apotropaic and regenerative role. Wood; 20x20.5 cm Egypt, New Kingdom, circa 1539-1069 BC A New-Kingdom Wood Composite Head-Rest. Composed of three pieces of wood, in the shape of a hieroglyph for the horizon. The crescent-shaped top is supported by a pair of hands with long, slender fingers. Alongside its daily use, the bedside table, since the Old Kingdom, has been part of the funerary trousseau. Made from different materials (wood, alabaster, earthenware, ivory, etc.), it is sometimes decorated with images and propitiatory texts. Funerary books equate the bedside with the horizon, with the head raised and lying on its side being similar to the sun rising above the rolling horizon. His magical role as protector of the head of the deceased is often mentioned (Texts of the Sarcophagi then later chapter 166 of the Book of the Dead). In the Late Period, small amulets taking the shape of a bedside table highlight its apotropaic and regenerative role. 1539-1069 B.C.E. Provenance Galerie Mariaud de Serres, Paris, Collection of Docteur Lisfranc, Paris