False Door - Historical Development

Historical Development

The configuration of the false door, with its nested series of door jambs, is derived from the niched palace façade that became a common architectural motif in the Predynastic period and the Old Kingdom. The false door was used first in the mastabas of the Third Dynasty of the Old Kingdom, and its use became nearly universal in tombs of the fourth through sixth dynasties. During the nearly one hundred and fifty years spanning the reigns of the sixth dynasty pharaohs Pepi I, Merenre, and Pepi II, the false door motif went through a sequential series of changes affecting the layout of the panels, allowing historians to date tombs based on which style of false door was used.

After the First Intermediate Period, the popularity of the false doors diminished, being replaced by stelae as the primary surfaces for writing funerary inscriptions.