Following death, the Egyptians believed that the spirit needed sustenance to continue to exist. The ka, or spirit, inhabited a statue in the tomb chapel. There, offerings were left to enable the ka to continue indefinitely into the afterlife. The family of the deceased would visit the chapel regularly, bringing offerings and libations. These were not limited to food and water; families brought everything they thought the dead might need to enjoy themselves in the afterlife. The Egyptians especially esteemed pleasant smells, and so flowers and perfumes were often dedicated at the tomb, and interred with the dead.

While Egyptian tombs were sealed with hidden entrances, tomb chapels were the public and visible expression of the family’s devotion towards the dead. The chapel was explicitly open to the living, richly decorated with images of the deceased and the existence they hoped to enjoy in the Netherworld. The classical form of the tomb chapel was cut into the rock, occupying a chamber before the tomb proper. There was a façade outside, often crowned with a small pyramid or a stela showing the tomb’s owner dedicating to the sun god Ra. Inside, images represented the life of the deceased, showing him overseeing his fields or workshops, engaging in hunting, or attending parties. It was hoped that by depicting these images, the deceased might enjoy the same status in death as he did in life. It was in this chamber that dedications were made using a stone slab called an offering table, and libations were poured into a small basin.

Offering tables and libation basins are usually separate, but in this rare example, the functions are combined into a single object. Very few exist combining these functions, with one such object found in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland (1912:261). Our example is especially fine, hewn from a single block of granite. On the left is the libation basin, in which ritually blessed water, and other libations such as wine or oil, were poured. It is deep and perfectly square, reflecting the skill in measurement and execution of the craftsman. On the right hand side is the offering table. This consists of a flat square area, the table proper, on which are carvings in deep relief. The carvings represent lotuses, two buds and an open flower on each side; between them are two hes-vases, a special shape of pot from which libations were poured in the temples. Water cascades down from spouts in the sides of each pot, in the perpetual action of pouring a libation. The hes-vases frame a deep cartouche, above which is a small table piled high with parcels of offerings. These carvings represent the dedications which the family would choose to make to the deceased; by rendering them in stone, it was hoped that, even if the family line died out, the symbolic offerings would still nourish the deceased. The relief is outlined with a channel, which leads to a spout extending from the top of the block. This would allow liquid dedications to be made on the offering table, such as oil, perfume, wine, and water. It is possible that the deep cartouche was designed to catch a small amount of these liquid dedications and hold them in place.

References: a similar combined libation basin and offering table is in Dublin (National Museum of Ireland 1912:261).