Rock Pillow

The first recorded notion of the pillow originated in ancient Mesopotamia 7000 years ago. These pillows weren't exactly the cushions that you and I recognize with today. These pillows were hard and solid, usually being made of rock. The shape of these pillows were not the conventional rectangular shape we use today, but smaller and more compact, generally having a curve in the rock. Unlike in today's society, these pillows served a much more practical reason than helping us rest or preventing long term health problems through incorrect sleeping posture. These cushions in the ancient world were used to keep bugs, dust, and other foreign matter from entering the body. During ancient times, health care and medicine wasn't as prevalent or strong as it is today; getting a bug and the resulting illness or disease had a higher potential to endanger a person's life.

With Mesopotamia being located in modern day Iraq, the concept of the pillow spread west to Europe and east to China. The notion of the pillow in China was similar to the one in Mesopotamia, but had a more underlining reasoning to why these pillows continued to be hard. The Chinese believed that a soft pillow would absorb some sort of energy from a person, so many of the pillows continued to be produced from hard materials such as rock. As one can see in modern times, the principle of absorbing energy has been overshadowed by functionality, with many Chinese having regular pillows, meditation cushions and bolster pillows today.

With the pillows spreading to the west as well, the idea came to be revolutionary and similar to the conceptualization recognized with today regarding cushions. The Greeks and the Romans crated the soft pillow recognized with currently. They created the soft cushion in a rectangular and square form to lay their heads on in various settings. The filling they used are not the same as the kapok material or buckwheat used today; in matter of fact they used various feathers from assorted animals in many cases as filling (e.g. goose feathers). During the middle ages after the fall of the Roman Empire in Europe, pillows were more of a symbol of prominence and upper class, because much of Europe was thrown into the feudal system with the populace being divided into classes. The upper elite who could actually afford these handmade cushions were the only ones who could pay for them. At this time, making cushions were a time consuming process because of the lack of machinery and ready substance.

In time the industrial revolution took place in Europe and America, and now instead of the handmade time consuming conceptualization of making a pillows, cushions could now be massed produced. As society grew, cushions could now be generated and logistically spread around the world.

Cushions vary in sizes and shapes nowadays, having bolster pillows, meditation pillows, triangle cushions, and so on. In a way, pillows today and there design represent a part of the world and culture that people are unaware of.