Padgham

Wednesday 30th January 2013

 

 

Joan Padgham (Independent Scholar)

‘The Enigma of the Cone on the Head’. 

 

Banquet scenes in New Kingdom tombs often show a dome shaped object on the head of the participants and it is usually identified as an actual cone of perfumed unguent placed on the head or a symbol of perfumed unguent. Some Egyptologists have proposed that this perfume was used to provide an erotic ambiance and that the cone symbolised the potential of rebirth for the tomb owner. Yet all is not what is seems and my presentation, which draws on seven years of research, will suggest an alternative explanation for this curious object.