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Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Photo: False Doors for the Dead Among New Egypt Tomb Finds


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Stone tombs with mud brick walls in the ancient Egyptian necropolis of Herakleopolis Magna (left) were deliberately burned during the turbulent and poorly documented First Intermediate Period, about 2160 to 2055 B.C.

New excavations at the tombs yielded three false doors, including one inscribed with the royal name Khety (right), that served as portals for communicating with the dead.

Photographs courtesy Egypt Supreme Council of Antiquities