Comfortable supportive sleep surfaces-the kind we take for granted-are comparative newcomers in the History of Man. In fact, the bed and the bedroom are both relatively recent inventions.

Prehistoric man, like his closest animal relatives, simply huddled in groups for warmth at night, with one eye open for predators. His bedroom was the nearest cave or other natural shelter. It wasn't until some 10,000 years ago, in the Neolithic period, that man enjoyed anything resembling a bed. Actually, he was lucky to have a pile of leaves with animal skins thrown over it.

Pillows on the ground served Biblical royalty as the ultimate in sleeping luxury until the Egyptian pharaohs discovered the benefits of raising a pallet of the earth around 3400 B.C. The young King Tutankhamen had a bed of ebony and gold-exquisite, no doubt, but not necessarily comfy. These wooden pallets were narrow and short, often serving as couches during the day. Meanwhile, the common man was still sleeping on palm bows heaped in a corner of his simple abode.

The nobles of Babylon and Assyria slept on metal beds encrusted with jewels thought to have magical powers for inducing sleep. The poor slept on long, low tables with wooden headrests.

The Greeks took sleeping comfort to new heights-by their standards, in any case-and created ornate bedsteads of laced hide strips, topping them with animal pelts. Decorative and costly stuffed pillows became a status symbol among the Grecian aristocrats.

The first true luxury beds appeared in the days of the Roman Empire. The richest of the Romans enjoyed bedding we might even find acceptable-in a pinch. Often decorated with gold, silver, or bronze, these beds featured mattresses stuffed with reeds, hay, wool or feathers. The Romans are also credited with the discovery of the waterbed. The sleeper would recline in a cradle of warm water until drowsy, then be lifted into an adjacent cradle with a mattress, where he would be rocked to sleep.

When Rome fell, sleeping luxury was set back by several thousand years. During the Dark Ages, a pile of animal skins was once again the bed of even the wealthiest of men. And only the nobility were lucky enough to have a place by the fire on cold, winter nights.

Medieval man rediscovered the benefits of a more substantive bedstead, often building a bastion-like structure to protect himself from the robberrs and murderers that roamed the night. The Medieval knight went to sleep virtually sitting up, propping himself with pillows and bolsters, sword hanging on the bedpost in readiness.

With the advent of the Renaissance period, beds began to regain the comfort and grandeur last seen in ancient Rome. For the first time, French and Italian artisans were able to fabricate furniture using lightweight inlays and veneers, rather than carving from whole pieces of wood. Beds reached new heights of opulence and size-decorative work was carried to extraordinary lengths. And dimensions of six, seven or eight feet were not unusual.

Mattresses apparently received less attention during this period, but were considerably more luxurious than their Medieval forerunners.

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