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Offering tray

Unknown Artist

The baked clay trays here displayed were probably used as actual offering tables. They have internal divisions and a raised edge which recalls the girdle wall of the typical courtyard of the Egyptian house; they are indeed also known as "soul houses". Separately manufactured models of funerary offerings - loaves, fishes, cow heads and legs, vegetables - were placed in the middle of the tray; the channels presumably served the purpose of draining out liquid offerings poured directly on the tray.

Period: First Intermediate Period
Provenance: Gebelein
Acquisition: Schiaparelli excavations (1903-1906)

First Intermediate Period, 2118-1980 BCE

Baked clay

5.7 x 22.3 cm

S. 16032

Image and text courtesy of Museo Egizio, 2022

Where you'll find this

Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum

Permanent collection