The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 19, 2025
Offering Table
305–30 BCE
(332 BCE–395 CE), Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BCE)
Overall: 34.6 x 35.2 x 7.2 cm (13 5/8 x 13 7/8 x 2 13/16 in.)
Location: 107 Egyptian
Did You Know?
On offering tables made in earlier time periods, the channel for water usually connects to the main carved surface.Description
Offering tables were used in ancient Egyptian funerary rituals to create a connection between the realms of the living and the dead. Often located near or inside tombs, the table was placed flat in front of ka statues, figures designed to contain the life force of the dead, with the carved surface facing up. Water would be poured over the table, sustaining the dead with vitality. The carved relief displays images of libation jars, beer jars, fruit, bread, cucumbers, a trussed fowl, and a lotus flower. These foods were associated with the diet of the gods, emphasizing the deceased’s desire to become divine in the afterlife.- Purchased from Mohammed Mohasseb and Son, Luxor, by Lucy Olcott Perkins through Henry W. Kent
- Berman, Lawrence M., and Kenneth J. Bohač. Catalogue of Egyptian Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art, 1999 Reproduced and Mentioned: p. 508
- Long-Term Loan. Michael C. Carlos Museum, Atlanta, GA (organizer) (February 29, 2000-August 30, 2008).CMA 1916, no. 58, p. 210, pl. 339
- {{cite web|title=Offering Table|url=false|author=|year=305–30 BCE|access-date=19 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1914.655