The Hypocephalus: An Ancient Egyptian Funerary Amulet

Beneath the head of some Egyptian mummies lay a small disc covered in divine figures, symbols and spells. Known as a hypocephalus, it was intended to bring the reviving power of the sun to the dead. These amulets belonged chiefly to the funerary practices of Late Period and Ptolemaic Egypt and were never common; known examples are closely associated with priests and priestly families.

Tamás Mekis brings together 158 examples known at the time of his study, examining their texts, images, materials and regional traditions. Their inscriptions draw on the supplementary chapters of the Book of the Dead, while the designs connect the sun’s renewal with the hope of life after burial. No two discs are identical, and some are known only through old descriptions. Piecing them together means working with both surviving objects and the incomplete record left by earlier observers.