Stand for an Offering Basin with the Name of King Khafre

Old Kingdom
ca. 2520–2494 B.C.
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 103
Stands like this one bearing a king's name would have been associated with a god's temple or royal funerary complex, but the best evidence for use and placement of such stands comes from private tombs where they are documented as having stood on either side of an offering table or offering slab in front of the false door.

Middle Kingdom evidence indicates this type of offering stand held mainly incense. The incense coals may have been placed in a pottery bowl or directly on the stone. Food placed on the adjacent offering slab was first passed over the incense to aid its transmission to the god or deceased person to whom it was offered.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Stand for an Offering Basin with the Name of King Khafre
  • Period: Old Kingdom
  • Dynasty: Dynasty 4
  • Reign: reign of Khafre
  • Date: ca. 2520–2494 B.C.
  • Geography: From Egypt; Probably from Eastern Delta, Hurbeit (Pharbaethos)
  • Medium: Gneiss
  • Dimensions: H. 85 cm (33 7/16 in.)
  • Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1907
  • Object Number: 07.228.24
  • Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

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