Introduction
Various communities have had different customs that they respect and follow in their daily activities. As time moves on some of the traditions and myths, have been forgotten while others are still practiced. Some beliefs have lost value because the society has evolved, and new things have come up in life. The false door of the Royal sealer neferiu is a tradition that is well known in Egypt, mostly the upper northern part. The custom existed since the old kingdom up to 2010 BC. The Egyptians had a belief that once a person dies the soul freely enter and leave the tomb via the false door that was characterized by the recessed surface that had a symbolic entrance at its center. In the early life of the middle kingdom, some adjustments were made to the door design and there was a combination of other elements such as rectangular stelae. On the jambs of the double door, there are texts that are inscribed to signify the accomplishments and good deeds of the deceased person. The belief of the false door was a positive one since it gave the people an answer to a rhetorical question that existed when the individuals tried to know what happens after death.
Literature Review
The false doors originated as a small west-facing niche developed to include rectangular or a square panel that showed the owner accepting the offerings. When there were some jambs added besides and below the panel, the niche advanced into false doors. In later days, the Egyptians noticed that the lintels and the jambs on the stone doors were good places for their texts inscribes. However, they could not forget the initial concept of doors; hence, they put carved bolts at the center of the opening.
False door acts as one of the major elements in the ancient Egyptian tombs and an essential architectural feature in the royal tombs that have existed since the Old Kingdom of Egypt. In the new kingdom, the place in which the doors were mostly found included the temples and was dedicated to the gods, and in the mortuaries and tombs as a dedication to the deceased. The evolution of the doors was the architecture that was used in the Mastaba tombs for the elite people from 3100 to 2156 BC. The initial use of the Mastabas was in the third Dynasty in the Old Kingdom, and by the time the fourth and sixth dynasties were established, it was a typical architecture in all the tombs. The kingdom existed for over one hundred and fifty years, and in this period, multiple changes affected the layout of the major panels, and this was helpful in dating the tombs since it was done considering the style that was used in the design.
A significant change in the tombs and doors happened after the first intermediate duration since the false door popularity went down considerably and was replaced by the stelae, which was the primary surface used to write funerary inscriptions. In the new kingdom, there was a simpler painted form used and was based on the dimension of the false doors that had existed. False entries cannot be mistaken to be original doors, but were a combination of the offering niche and the steala that had hieroglyphic inscriptions. A false door had a long contracted dug in panel to represent the original entrance way. Above it, there was a molding that signifies the reed mat that was used for closing the actual door. Monolithic pieces of limestone were used to make the doors and were painted red in color and had some black spots. An example can be found in the Sean khui ptah tomb in Teti cemetery located in Saqqara. Other designs existed, where the doors were made of wood or painted on a flat surface of a wall
The name originated from the view that the spirits of the deceased could pass through to reach or move away from the people. The placement of the false doors was on the west wall in the main room of the chapel and had moldings inside a rectangular frame that was decorated with images of the departed person sitting at the offering table. At times the false doors could be put on the sides of a coffin or a tomb, and could have more than one door; one belonging to the owner and the other one to the wife. In addition, some graves found in extended families had a false door for all the family members.
Away from the multiple decorations on the doors, there were significant beliefs since the people trusted there were curses to any individual who tried to harm the deceased while the ones who offered sacrifices were blessed. A standard feature was the representation of people at the lower part of the decoration, and they were facing inwards like they were progressing to the door. Some few cases had the statue of the owner at the central niche.
Egyptians had a strong faith that the doors acted as the gateways that could lead to the underworld and had a significant role in their cult of the dead. The value of the doors to the Egyptians is seen in that the false doors still survive while others have been put in museums for reservation. Another region where the strange doors are found is in South America in Peru where people believe the heroes passed through when going to meet the gods in the immortality life. There are myths that the great people could return through the gates together with the gods and inspect the kingdom and the people.
Discussion
History may be difficult to prove, but the one for false doors is real because there are pictures and carvings of the same in the Egyptian museums. In the past ages, people were known for the beliefs they had in different life aspects that kept evolving. Egyptians used the false doors as a way of honoring their deceased. It is evident that the doors existed, because in the ancient times the use of limestone in carvings was typical and it is assumed that the doors were made of limestone. False doors may act as the community art, but it has a major significance because the people of Egypt believed it was the channel through which the living was separated from the dead. Various architectural features were used in the false doors to support the culture of Egypt and honor the dead.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, it is necessary to respect the culture of any community without trying to argue against its existence. Egyptians believe that the deceased used the doors, and this may not be true in other communities. The only way for ample existed is for different societies to respect each other’s myths, study then, and gain a reliable understanding without criticizing. The multiple pictures and carvings of the false doors that exist in Egypt and South America prove the existence of the door architecture. The differences that exist are in the design because different dynasties tried to incorporate varying features to suit their needs and taste.
Future Research Questions
The study shows that the false doors originated from the old kingdom of Egypt, but there is a need to know the various stages of evolution until in the current times. There should be created an understanding to know if the false doors still exist in the present tombs or graveyards. Can the false doors be compared to the crosses that are mounted when people are buried, and some inscriptions that are done? Research should be advanced to know how the false doors relate to the crosses and the writings done on them in the current setup. The only areas where the false doors have been known to be used are in Egypt and South America. There should be some research done to know which other locations they were used since in the past people involved in trade, and during the activity, there were intermarriages and exchange of culture. It is impossible that the culture of false doors remained in the originating countries, yet other cultural beliefs and activities were transferred. If there were no exchanges with neighboring communities, it might disqualify the existence of the false doors.
Images
An example of a false door
Carving on a tomb signifying the owner and his family
Bibliography
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Pinarello, Massimiliano S, Justin Yoo, Jason Lundock, and Carl Walsh. Current Research In Egyptology 2014. Oxford: Oxbow Books, 2015.
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