#false door

[romegreeceart]

False door from the tomb of Sentites

Saqqara

Period: 6th dynasty (c. 2345 BCE–c. 2181 BCE)

Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm

Stockholm, November 2023

[conformi]

Frank Stella painting "Getty Tomb" in his studio, 1959, photo by Hollis Frampton VS Seven Osirian Doorways, Temple of Osiris Hek-Djet, Karnak | Luxor, Egypt, Twenty-third Dynasty of Egypt

[100secondegyptology]

The good name

As this has come up occasionally - what were Egyptian names like, what were Egyptians called... I've just looked through pictures I took at museums and noticed that I do have a few nice examples where peoples "good names" are given.

The first is a stela from Akhmim, dating to the Old Kingdom, which shows a man called wsr-mjn (Usermin) in front of an offering table (left side). His name is given in the upper line with the offering formula and then again with his title Hm-nTr (priest) in the middle column. In front of him there's another name: His rn-nfr, his good name - which was Wedja. This would have possibly been a name he would have been called in life, similar to a nickname. The stela is now in the Scottish National Museum but unfortunately their display does not offer an accession number.

The second piece was once part of a limestone false door and dates from the Old Kingdom as well, this time coming from Dendera. The man shown on the left is called ppj-mn-anX (Pepi-Men-Ankh) which is given in the last column of the text. You can clearly see that the name is basilophorous, i.e. it incorporated the king's name, because that part is framed with a cartouche. Underneath that name, again, there's his rn-nfr: Mnj (Meni). The fragment is now in the Manchester Museum and has the number 3503.

[spiritsdancinginthenight]

ancient egyptian portal to the afterlife (also known as a false door).

[theancientwayoflife]

~ False door 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.

Place of origin: Egypt, Saqqara (?)

Period: Old Kingdom, 6th Dynasty

Date: 2350-2170 B.C.

Medium: Limestone

[brandistrickland]

Shrine, framed mini art print

[oldschoolfrp]

False door and pit trap, with a drop down to the next lower level.  When lower level = greater hd monsters, this can be a particularly deadly trap.  (David Sutherland, D&D module B1: In Search of the Unknown, TSR, 1979)

[glencairnmuseum]

“Shadows and ghosts go through shut doors.” —Carl Sandburg  (from “Doors”)