False door of Neferseshemkhufu

Perhaps from Giza, Egypt
6th Dynasty, around 2200 BC

Limestone false door of a scribe and supervisor of priests

This false door is thought to come from Giza, mainly because the name of the owner is compounded with that of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid. Most officials who bear such names seem to have been buried at Giza.

This is a typical example of a false door as would have belonged to a minor official: it is simply laid out, and the slightly jumbled nature of some of the hieroglyphs perhaps give it a much older appearance. The separate images of Neferseshemkhufu and his wife Khentyka on the central panel are unusual.

T.G.H. James (ed.), Hieroglyphic texts from Egyp-9, Part 1, 2nd edition (London, The British Museum Press, 1961)