Offering table

Middle Kingdom

ca. 1900–1850 B.C.

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 109

Discovered at Lisht North, this offering table was originally dated by the excavators to the Ramesside Period, but comes instead from the mid-12th Dynasty. The upper surface is carved with an inset panel framed at the bottom by the hieroglyph for offerings, hetep, which echoes the shape of a mat on which offerings of food and drink would have been placed in earlier tombs. Within the panel, which opens into a shallow spout on one of the long sides, are images of ritual vessels and foodstuffs. The rectangles, which are unusal features, may represent clusters of long conical bread loaves arranged in alternating directions to form quadrilaterals. Such details might have been rendered by zigzag lines drawn over the rectangles in ink that has since faded away. The absence of inscriptions might indicate that the text was added only in ink.

This offering table originally would have been placed in a tomb chapel; water poured over it would have served to activate the purification rituals and food offerings in order to nourish the spirit of the deceased. It would also have served as a magical substitute to provide eternal sustenance for the tomb owner in the event that his or her actual cult ceased to be carried out.

Artwork Details

Overview

Provenance

Title: Offering table
Period: Middle Kingdom
Dynasty: mid-Dynasty 12
Date: ca. 1900–1850 B.C.
Geography: From Egypt, Memphite Region, Lisht North, Cemetery, MMA excavations
Medium: Limestone
Dimensions: L. 39 × W. 20.6 × H. 8.7 cm (15 3/8 × 8 1/8 × 3 7/16 in.)
Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1915
Object Number: 15.3.1150
Curatorial Department: Egyptian Art

More Artwork

In the same gallery

In the same medium

From the same time and place

A slider containing 5 items.
Press the down key to skip to the last item.

Offering table from the mortuary temple of Amenemhat I, Granite — Offering table from the mortuary temple of Amenemhat I
ca. 1981–1952 B.C.

Ritual Scene with Senwosret I, Limestone, paint — Ritual Scene with Senwosret I
ca. 1961–1917 B.C.

Relief showing procession of offering bearers, Limestone, paint — Relief showing procession of offering bearers
ca. 1961–1917 B.C.

Name Panels from the Inner Wall of Senwosret I's Pyramid Complex, Limestone — Name Panels from the Inner Wall of Senwosret I's Pyramid Complex
ca. 1961–1917 B.C.

Seated Statue of the Steward Sehetepibreankh, Limestone — Seated Statue of the Steward Sehetepibreankh
ca. 1919–1885 B.C.

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.