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 22.3cm
S. 16032
Image and text courtesy of Museo Egizio, 2022
Where you'll find this
Egyptian Museum
Permanent collection