False Door to Afterlife from Egyptian Tomb Discovered in Luxor
By STAN PARCHIN
March 29, 2010
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| Egyptian, New Kingdom (ca. 1474-1454 B.C.). False Door from Tomb of User. Red granite. H. 175 cm (68.9 in.); W. 100 cm (39.4 in.); D. 40 cm (15.7 in.). Photograph courtesy of Supreme Council of Antiquities. |
Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, announced today the discovery of a 3,500-year-old false door to the afterlife from the tomb of User, the powerful vizier or chief minister of Queen Hatshepsut (r. 1479-1458 B.C.). Found in front of the Temple of Karnak in Luxor, the six-foot-tall red granite work was meant to function as a threshold for the deceased and Toy, his wife, to interact with the living and receive funerary offerings from them.
The recessed niche is engraved with religious texts as well as User's different titles, among them mayor of the city, vizier and prince. He was the uncle of Rekhmire, chief minister of Pharaoh Thutmose III (r. 1479-1425 B.C.). User assumed the high-ranking position of vizier about 1474 B.C.; he held the title for 20 years. His importance during Hatshepsut's reign is indicated by the presence of his chapel at Gebel el-Silsila, a mountain quarry site in Aswan.
Sometime during the Roman period (30 B.C.-364 A.D.), the large false door, discovered by an Egyptian excavation team, was removed from User's tomb on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, where Egyptian royalty was buried. The architectural element was then incorporated into the wall of a Roman structure.
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