False door

A typical false door to an Egyptian tomb. The deceased is shown above the central niche in front of a table of offerings, and inscriptions listing offerings for the deceased are carved along the side panels. Louvre Museum.

A false door, or recessed niche,[1] is an artistic representation of a door which does not function like a real door. They can be carved in a wall or painted on it. They are a common architectural element in the tombs of ancient Egypt, but appeared possibly earlier in some Pre-Nuragic Sardinian tombs known as Domus de Janas. Later they also occur in Etruscan tombs and in the time of ancient Rome they were used in the interiors of both houses and tombs.

  1. ^ "The term false door (also ka-door, false- door stela, fausse-porte, Scheintiir) denotes an architectural element that is found mostly in private tomb structures of the Old Kingdom (mastabas and rock-cut tombs): a recessed niche, either in the western wall of the offering chamber, or in the eastern tomb facade. It imitates the most important parts of an Egyptian door, but the niche offers no real entrance to any interior space. Such fictitious doors are also attested in other architectural contexts" in Redford, Donald B. (2001). The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt: A-F. Oxford University Press. p. 498. ISBN 978-0195138214.

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