False Door of Hepeti and Her Mother Sahat

The pyramids of the pharaohs of the Old Kingdom were built on the edge of the desert opposite the new capital at Memphis. They were surrounded by smaller tombs called mastabas belonging to royal relatives and members of the king's court. Earlier versions of these mastaba tombs were encircled by walls of mudbrick laid in an elaborate pattern of niches, which had been derived from the architecture of Mesopotamia. By the early Old Kingdom, the style had changed and been translated from brick to stone. By then, the surrounding facade of niches was reduced to form a tomb chapel. The niches were the main cult focus of these tombs and became known by archaeologists as "false doors"- stone portals through which the ancient Egyptians believed the spirit of the deceased could enter the tomb chapel. The spirit was believed to be nourished by the essence of food left by visitors at the tomb, or simply through small, symbolic bowls and dishes.

This false door is inscribed for "the royal ornament and priestess of Hathor," Hepetii and for her mother, Sahat, who had the same titles. The text on the top of the false door is a standard inscription that records the tomb as a gift from the king through the god of the cemetery, Anubis. Both sides record wishes for a good burial in the West (the land of the dead). Mastaba tombs housed the burials of entire families and could be added to by later generations. Burial chambers were carved in the earth below the mastaba and reached by vertical shafts that cut through the body of the structure itself. The burial chambers of even the wealthiest were often sparsely furnished with only a headrest, a rectangular coffin, pottery vessels, and offerings of food.