Cross-cultural Comfort
- Be W
- Feb 17
- 2 min read
What do you think of when you think of being comfortable? For me, as someone who has grown up in Western cultures that have based themselves in Greco-Roman tradition, I think of a soft, downy pillow. Indeed, these have been used since around 7,000 BCE when they were invented in Mesopotamia. Ancient Greek and Rome perpetuated their use before they wavered in stylishness as they became more and then less expensive.
Still, today, in the majority of the world, pillows in various forms have become a norm--albeit some cultures have very different ideas of what constitutes a comfortable pillow. (See below for the Japanese "sobagara makura"-- a hard pillow filled with buckwheat hull to make for firmer support of the neck.)
However, in some cultures around the world, a different sort of pillow is preferred.
This weekend, I had the pleasure of visiting the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio. There, I came across an artifact that looked familiar. Entoumbed for use in the afterlife, this stone headrest was used in many places worldwide as a sort of pillow and, on occasion, an impromptu chair. In the case of the pillow below, it was made in Egypt about 2454-2140 BCE (that's more than 4,000 years ago!)
So, why did this look so familiar to me? Well, it is still being used today! In parts of the Omo Valley in Ethiopia, folks will carry around similar-looking devices made of wood for sitting on or using as a pillow! Though it may seem uncomfortable to someone used to sleeping on down or even buckwheat hull, these "pillows" serve the purpose of keeping bugs out of one's ears and keeping one's hair off the ground while leaving ears free for hearing any predators approaching one's livestock (the peoples who use these pillows base their economy primarily in livestock and farming, so this ability is invaluable!)
Take a look below to see a modern take on this ancient comfort!
Sourcing:
Comments