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Egypten 3.3 :: False door from the tomb of Hershefnakht at Saqqara

Object description

Hershefnakht lived during the 5th Dynasty. In the

middle of his false door he is depicted in front of an

offering table with pieces of tall offering bread, the

front leg of an ox and a whole bird.

The hieroglyphs above his head tell about the things

he wishes as tomb offerings: a thousand loaves of

bread, a thousand jars of beer, a thousand oxen, a

thousand fowl, a thousand alabaster jars (with

contents) and a thousand pieces of linen.

The idea was that his relatives would regularly visit the

tomb and present offerings at the false door. In case the

offerings would fail to appear it would suffice that any

passer-by read out the offering list and his name. As a

last resort, in case no one ever came to the tomb, the

inscriptions and images were still there. And they were

as real as the food and the objects they described.

Data elements
References (2)

Exhibition, Showcase - Depicted (1)
Exhibition, showcase - Current (1)

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Egypten 3.3 :: False door from the tomb of Hershefnakht at Saqqara

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