False Door of Nykara (2408–2341 BCE): Art, History and Details

False Door of Nykara (2408–2341 BCE) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

The focal point of the tomb chapel was a false door built into its western wall. Food offerings for the deceased tomb owners were placed in front of it, and it was believed that the soul could pass through it. The inscriptions list Nykara's numerous titles both at court and in the state bureaucracy. His eldest son, Ankhmara, who succeeded Nykara in the granary administration, is shown in much smaller scale in front of him.

Object facts

• Title: False Door of Nykara
• Date: 2408–2341 BCE
• Culture: Egypt, Old Kingdom (2647–2124 BCE), Dynasty 5, reign of Nyuserre (2445–2422 BCE) or later
• Type: Sculpture
• Technique: limestone
• Dimensions: Overall: 168 x 111.5 x 6 cm (66 1/8 x 43 7/8 x 2 3/8 in.)
• Collection: Egypt - Old Kingdom
• Department: Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern Art
• Accession number: 1964.91

Collection credit

Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund

Further reading listed by the museum

• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
• The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.