False Door

E14318

Location: On Display in the Ancient Egypt: Discovery to Display

From: Egypt | Saqqara (uncertain)

Curatorial Section: Egyptian

View All (8) Object Images

Object Number E14318
Current Location Ancient Egypt: Discovery to Display - On Display
Provenience Egypt | Saqqara (uncertain)
Period Old Kingdom | Sixth Dynasty
Date Made 2350-2170 BCE
Section Egyptian
Materials Limestone
Iconography Offering Table
Inscription Language Hieroglyphic
Description

This false door came from the tomb chapel of Irty-Ptah. He was a priest of Ptah and a Scribe of Divine Offering in the Temple of Ptah at Memphis. On the central panel, the deceased is shown seated before a table of offerings. The text is a standard funerary inscription invoking the funerary gods Osiris and Anubis. The inscriptions also list the name and titles of the deceased. In both lower corners, Irty-Ptah is shown with a walking staff and a scepter of authority. The Egyptians believed that the ka (or life force) of the individual could magically pass through this doorway and partake of food offerings left in front of it.

Height 133 cm
Credit Line Purchased from Ismail Abdallah El-Shaer, 1923
Other Number 0309 - Cast Number

Report problems and issues to digitalmedia@pennmuseum.org.