The hypocephalus is an element of Late Period and Ptolemaic funerary
equipment - an amuletic disc placed under the head of mummies. Its shape
emulates the sun's disc, and its form is planar, although it
occasionally has a concave shape (in such cases, it protects the head as
a funerary cap). The earliest known example can be dated to the 4th
century BC and the latest to the 2nd/1st century BC. The Hypocephalus:
an Ancient Egyptian Funerary Amulet analyses both the written records
and iconography of these objects. So far, 158 examples are known;
several, unfortunately, from old descriptions only. The relatively low
number shows that the object was not a widespread item of funerary
equipment. Only priest and priestly families used them, those of Amon in
Thebes, of Min in Akhmim, and the ones of Ptah in Memphis. Among the
examples, no two are identical. In some details, every piece is an
individualized creation. Ancient Egyptian theologians certainly
interpreted hypocephali as the iris of the wedjat-eye, amidst which
travels the sun-god in his hidden, mysterious and tremendous form(s).
The hypocephalus can be considered as the sun-disk itself. It radiates
light and energy towards the head of the deceased, who again becomes a
living being, feeling him/herself as 'one with the Earth' through this
energy. The texts and the iconography derive principally from the
supplementary chapters of the Book of the Dead. Some discs directly cite
the text of spell 162 which furnishes the mythological background of the
invention of the disc by the Great Cow, who protected her son Re by
creating the disc at his death.
