Bāb al Lūq

False Door of Shepsi, Prophet of Horus Overseer of the Scribes
A statue of Shepsi was placed in front of this false door. The deceased’s statue was an important cult place because visitors made offerings of food and drinks in front of it. The statue bears some of the titles of Shepsi incised on the base: royal acquantance, scribe of the divine book of Ptah, Shepsi.

Head of King Userkaf
Userkaf was the first king of the 5th Dynasty under whose reign the cult of the sun god Ra began to gain unprecedented importance. He chose to build a new type of temple, dedicated to the cult of the sun, at Abusir, a few kilometers north of Saqqara. He was the first king to initiate building activity at Abusir. This statue head, found in his sun-temple, represents him wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. When it was discovered, it was first attributed to the goddess Neith of Sais.

Seated Statues of Rahotep and Nofret
Rahotep and his consort Nofret represented seated on white cube-shaped thrones. Painted onto the back of the thrones are the couple’s names and titles in black hieroglyphs. Rahotep is identified as ‘king’s son, of his body, Rahotep.’ Combined with the location of Rahotep’s tomb north of king Sneferu’s, this suggests that he was Sneferu’s son, and the brother of Khufu, the owner of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Nofret is identified as an acquaintance, demonstrating her closeness to the king. The statues show personal traits conveyed in a traditional way. Rahotep and Nofret are depicted as youthful, the idealized form they wanted foe eternity, but still showing physical characteristics, celebrating their individuality.

Painted Relief from Tomb Wall Depicting a Sports Competition
The private tombs of the Old Kingdom frequently contained scenes of daily life, games, and sports. This relief shows a sporting fight between boatmen aboard three small boats on a river full of water lilies.

Seated Scribe
The Egyptian title for scribe is ‘sesh’. Scribes recorded the stocks of foods, court proceedings, wills, and other legal documents, tax records,and all of the things that happened in everyday life. Scribes were near the top of the social pyramid. The statue shows an unknown scribe in the traditional position in ancient Egyptian art—seated in a cross-legged pose, with a papyrus scroll over his knees. The right hand was intended to grip a stylus or reed and is balanced over the open papyrus in the act of writing.Read more