Free Republic

Ancient Egyptian art frequently depicts people wearing cone-shaped headgear, but none has ever been found. Now an international team of archaeologists has uncovered the first ever physical evidence of Egyptian head cones in the ancient city of Armarna, 194 miles south of the capital Cairo. The head cones, made from wax, were discovered at two graves in 2010 and 2015. They were found in fragments but researchers have been able to reconstruct their shape. They provide the first conclusive evidence that the objects actually existed and were worn by Egyptians, according to the archaeologists.

Ancient Egyptians have long been depicted wearing so-called head cones, but until now, archaeologists had no physical evidence of their existence. Now, two such head cones, made of wax, have been discovered on the skulls of two individuals buried about 3,300 years ago at the site of Amarna in Egypt. Between 1550 B.C. and 30 B.C., Egyptian art depicted people wearing what look like cones on their heads. Because no examples of these cones had ever been found, archaeologists wondered whether they actually existed or were an artistic motif that had no basis in reality The two cone-wearing individuals were...