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The second room
The second room does not have a lot of decoration in it. The only carvings in this room can be
found around the door frame leading into the third room, the sanctuary. The MET interprets this
room as the offering hall (www.metmuseum.org, accessed on 27-3-2019).
Although Aldred does not describe it in his article, in the Metropolitan museum of art a statue of a
god or goddess is located in this second chamber. It is described to have been a place where
sacrifices could be made to the gods of the temple. This statue is probably the reason the MET
interprets the room as an offering hall.
It was possible for altars to be placed in the room preceding the sanctuary. In such cases this room
was used as an offering hall where the sacrifices to the god were made. It was also possible for a
small altar to be placed in the sanctuary itself. The forms of altars could variate. Most commonly
they were square offering blocks carved and decorated on the sides, or flat slabs placed on
cylindrical bases (Wilkinson 2007, 69).
The king is usually depicted standing, bowing, or kneeling before the deity while offering gifts to
the god(s) of the temple. The god or goddess is depicted in a static pose while receiving the king’s
gifts. The reciprocal gifts of the god or goddess to the king are usually described in the texts
accompanying the representations (Wilkinson 2007, 69).
On figure 16 the depictions on the door are shown. These do indeed seem to depict deities sitting
on thrones or chairs while receiving offerings from another individual, likely the king. In the upper
left corner a falcon headed god is visible wearing the red crown of Lower Egypt. On the scene to
the right the pharaoh can be recognised by the white crown of Upper Egypt that he wears. He
offers two jugs to two individuals on the right, who are too difficult to recognise. It is possible to
see they are depicted with human heads, so they could possibly represent Pedesi and Pihor. A
similar scene can be seen in the upper right corner, where two individuals seated on thrones or
chairs can be recognised while receiving an offering from another individual on the right. It is too
difficult however to recognise any characteristic elements to make an interpretation. Based on the
function of the room and the other scenes however it is likely all scenes on this door represent
offerings being made to the different gods of this temple.