What is a False Door?
- The false door is an architectural element of tomb chapels. Built of door jambs and a lintel the false door has no physical entry for a person of the living world to walk through. Instead, the false door is meant to be a threshold for the deceased to come and collect offerings or to allow communication between the world of the dead and the living. (Roeten, 2021)
Why study false doors?
- False door panels survive more than whole intact offering rooms.
- False doors were more affordable than whole offering rooms, therefore people with less accumulated wealth could opt for a false door instead.
- False doors remained popular after decorated offering rooms were discarded in style, even for high officials. (Brovarski, 2006)
Where were false doors?
- In the period and circumstance of Old Kingdom elite tombs, false doors were usually found built into the west wall of the tomb chapel. While and where the mastabas were the tomb style of choice mainly during dynasties one through five, the tomb chapel would most likely be built either next to or within the aboveground superstructure of the mastaba. In later dynasties, or in geographical regions where rock cut tombs were the norm, the chapel would have been built into the rock outcrop next to the burial chamber. However, fasle doors could also be built on the outer walls of the mastaba, allowing passerbyers who do not have access to the inner chapel to interact with them. (Verma, 2014) (Danielle Candelora, In-class)
Who interacted with false doors?
- Direct family would be allowed inside the mortuary chapel to deliver offerings or letters to the deceased.
- The deceased themselves were believe to come to the threshold of the false doors to collect the offerings and/or letters.
- If the deceased was important enough, they might also have a mortuary cult dedicated to them, in which priests would come and perform funerary customs in the chapel. (Janosi, 1999).
How have false doors been used in Scholarship?
- In 1923, A. Rusch made significant contributions to dating and categorizing false doors.
- In 1985, N. Strudwick used false doors as a dating tool when studying the Old Kingdom administration. Strudwick observes a standardization of false door features belonging to specific time periods and kings reigns during the 6th dynasty.
- In 2006 E. Brovarski’s paper on 6th dynasty false doors sought to examine false door panel iconography in an effort to chronologically distinguish false doors in the Old Kingdom.
lilyfife.com 