False Door of the Royal Sealer Neferiu

False Door of the Royal Sealer Neferiu

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Egyptians believed that the soul of the deceased could freely enter and exit the tomb through a "false door," which was characterized by a recessed surface with a symbolic entrance in the center. By the early Middle Kingdom, the false door design was combined with other elements on rectangular stelae. This First Intermediate Period monument exemplifies the beginning of that process. The texts inscribed on the jambs flanking the double door proclaim the owner’s good deeds and accomplishments.

Egyptian Art

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

False Door of the Royal Sealer NeferiuFalse Door of the Royal Sealer NeferiuFalse Door of the Royal Sealer NeferiuFalse Door of the Royal Sealer NeferiuFalse Door of the Royal Sealer Neferiu

The Met collection of ancient Egyptian art consists of approximately 30,000 objects of artistic, historical, and cultural importance, dating from about 300,000 BCE to the 4th century CE. A signifcant percentage of the collection is derived from the Museum's three decades of archaeological work in Egypt, initiated in 1906 in response to increasing interest in the culture of ancient Egypt.