Offering table



Accession Number
EC2
Current Location
House of Life (first floor), Egypt and its Neighbours
Object Type
Religious or cult object, Offering table (ḥtp)
Classification
Type 1A
Material
Stone/minerals (Sandstone)
Provenance
Nubia, Meroe, Tomb 307
Measurements
Height: 99mm | Width: 385mm | Depth: 325mm
Number of Elements
1
Culture
Nubian

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Description

A red sandstone offering table with incised decorated on the top face. The table is roughly in the shape of the ḥtp-hieroglyph. Two tall vessels are depicted on either side, with water emanating from them towards two rectangular shapes. They flank a large lotus blossom with two bunches of grapes above. Eight circles, perhaps representing bread, are depicted along the upper edge of the table. Meroitic inscriptions are located along the bottom and right side. This offering table has been classified as Type 1A (Leclant et al 2000, 789). The offering table was excavated within tomb 307 at Meroe in 1910 by the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology, directed by John Garstang. When excavated, the doors to the tomb were closed with sandstone blocks and re-used Meroitic offering tables, including EC2 (Török 1997, I, 268).

Bibliography

Garstang, John (1911) Meroë, the city of the Ethiopians: being an account of a first season's excavations on the site, 1909–1910. Oxford: Clarendon Press. [pp. 58, 76 (nr. 36), pls. LVI, LXXI (nr. 36)] Hofmann, Inge 1991. Steine für die Ewigkeit: meroitische Opfertafeln und Totenstelen. Beiträge zur Sudanforschung, Beiheft 6. Wien: Verein der Förderer der Sudanforschung. [pp. 98, 122sq., 170.] Leclant, Jean, André Heyler, Catherine Berger el Naggar, Claude Carrier, Claude Rilly. 2000. Répertoire d'épigraphie méroïtique, Tome II - REM 0401 à REM 0851. Paris: De Boccard. [pp. 788–9, REM 0436] Török, László 1997. Meroe City, an ancient African capital: John Garstang's excavations in the Sudan. Egypt Exploration Society, Occasional Publications 12 (1–2). London: Egypt Exploration Society. [vol. 1, p. 268]

Other Identity
307 M10 (excavation number written on the top of the object)
Previous Owners
John Garstang (1876–1956) | Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome (1853–1936)
Excavation Details

Excavated by the Liverpool Institute of Archaeology, directed by John Garstang, within tomb 307 at Meroe in 1910.

Acquisition
Long-term loan, The Wellcome Trust (15 Feb 1971)

Language
Meroitic
Script
Cursive Meroitic
Last modified: 13 Aug 2022

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