Funerary Repast Scene and False Door In Egypt Art

Funerary Repast Scene and False Door

The earliest examples of the adornment of a tomb chapel come from the end of the Third and the beginning of the Fourth Dynasties. Initially, interrelated scenes are still lacking, a few pictorial themes being indicated in key scenes. The oldest and most important example of this kind is the funerary repast scene that appears on the outside of the tomb, at first on a sacrificial plaque or slab and later in association with the false door of the tomb.

The early type of funerary repast scene depicts the deceased to the left of a table covered with bread. He or she reaches out with the right hand to the bread loaves spread out on the table and lays the left hand on his or her breast. The scene contains all the important information needed for its function. Inscriptions of names and titles make the necessary statements about the status of the deceased during his or her life. The funerary repast scene refers to the function of the tomb as the eternal dwelling place of the deceased. Its images and texts tell us about the quality of the offerings made since it lists by name the sacrifices placed on the table and distinguishes between these according to type and number. This depiction was standardized at an early date and established, in a legally binding way, just which offerings were to be brought to the deceased.

The funerary repast scene forms the departure point for the entire wall decoration of the tomb chapel. Out of concern that the items listed in the funerary repast scene, which were required daily, might arrive too late or, at some time in the future, cease altogether, their continued provision was guaranteed by means of magical images. These include pictures of defiles of offering bearers as well as other images showing the production of gifts intended as offerings.

Depictions of offerings and their presentation by mortuary priests were originally found on the false door itself and were therefore directly related to the funerary repast scene. From there, however, they spread on to the surrounding walls of the tomb chapel until, finally, they fill up the entire cult chamber. The range of images of the early chapels therefore consists mainly of defiles of offering bearers and images of the sacrifice of cattle. In hindsight, the depictions in the early chapels can be seen to be representations of the items contained in the lists of the funerary repast scene. The essential role of these images lay in ensuring the continued production of offerings intended for sacrifice.

The production of sacrificial offerings transformed into images and their presentation refers to actions carried out in this life on behalf of the deceased in the next life. Series of images portraying the existence and social role of the deceased in the next life appear with increasing frequency in the Fifth Dynasty and are placed on an equal footing beside images that ensure the provision of offerings to him. The new images then set the tone for the type of images in the cult chamber. Pictorial cycles of agriculture and livestock prove particularly useful for the extension of the pictorial program because their output in the shape of bread and beer or in the form of animals for slaughter can be sacrificed to the tomb owner. Images of craftsmanship fulfill a similar function. These show the production of objects that, in the end, will be used for the construction of tombs.