Manon Yvonne Schutz: Sleep, Beds, and Death in Ancient Egypt. Studies on the Bed as a Female Entity, Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG: Wiesbaden, 2026, ISBN: 978-3-447-12429-4
Sleep is inevitable. Yet, while sleep unites all human beings, the when, where, how, with whom, and how long can vary significantly from time to time, place to place, family to family and often depends on the capabilities of those affected. Nonetheless, there are certain aspects that can be encountered everywhere: the wish to feel safe while sleeping and the related hope of getting up again the next morning. For this reason, people spare no effort to create a sleeping place that protects them literally and symbolically, with the bed often at the very center.
Using various two- and three-dimensional types of evidence, the study by Manon Yvonne Schutz tests modern preconceptions and deconstructs them where necessary, before reconstructing the term ‘bed’ from the ancient Egyptian perspective. A major focus lies on the object as a representation of the mother goddess, who embraces and protects the deceased sleeper during the night and actively helps him or her to wake up and be reborn in the morning. Ultimately, this volume tells a (not THE) story of the ancient Egyptian bed which, at its core, is a tale about the shared fears and hopes of humankind.
