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A false door, or recessed niche,"The term false door (also ka-door, false- door stela, fausse-porte, Scheintiir) denotes an architectural element that is found mostly in private tomb structures of the Old Kingdom (mastabas and rock-cut tombs): a recessed niche, either in the western wall of the offering chamber, or in the eastern tomb facade. It imitates the most important parts of an Egyptian door, but the niche offers no real entrance to any interior space. Such fictitious doors are also attested in other architectural contexts" in is an artistic representation of a door which does not function like a real door. They can be carved in a wall or painted on it. They are a common architectural element in the tombs of ancient Egypt, but appeared possibly earlier in some Pre-Nuragic Sardinian tombs known as Domus de Janas. Later they also occur in Etruscan tombs and in the time of ancient Rome they were used in the interiors of both houses and tombs.
Recessed niches were characteristic of Mesopotamian Temple architecture, and were adopted in Egyptian architecture, especially for the design of Mastaba tombs, during the First Dynasty and the Second Dynasty, from the time of the Naqada III period (circa 3000 BCE). It is unknown if the transfer of this design was the result of Mesopotamian workmen in Egypt, or if temple designs appearing on imported Mesopotamian seals may have been a sufficient source of inspiration for Egyptian architects.
The false door was usually the focus of a tomb's offering chapel, where family members could place offerings for the deceased on a special offering slab placed in front of the door.
Most false doors are found on the west wall of a funerary chapel or offering chamber because the Ancient Egyptians associated the west with the land of the dead. In many , both husband and wife buried within have their own false door.
The door is framed with a series of moldings and lintels as well, and an offering scene depicting the deceased in front of a table of offerings usually is carved above the center of the door. Sometimes, the owners of the tomb had statues carved in their image placed into the central niche of the false door.
After the First Intermediate Period, the popularity of the false doors diminished, being replaced by stele as the primary surfaces for writing funerary inscriptions.
Representations of false doors also appeared on Middle Kingdom coffins such as the Coffin of Nakhtkhnum (MET 15.2.2a, b) dating to late Dynasty 12 (). Here, the false door is represented by two wooden doors that are secured with door bolts, bracketed on both sides by architectural niching – recalling earlier niched temple and palace façades such as the enclosure wall that surrounds the mortuary complex of king Djoser of the Third Dynasty. In a similar manner to the Old Kingdom false doors, representations of false doors on Middle Kingdom coffins facilitated the movement of the deceased's spirit between the afterlife and the world of the living.
For example, the false door of Ankhires reads:
The lintel reads:
The left and right outer jambs read:
These false doors, apparently resulting from a strong Eastern influence, usually appear on the back wall of the main chamber, and are represented by horizontal and vertical frames and a projecting lintel. Sometimes the door is topped with painted or carved U-shaped protome, inscribed inside each other in a variable number. Monte Siseri o S'Incantu – Putifigari. neroargento.com
Unlike the Egyptian ones, the meaning of pre-Nuragic false doors is less clear. It has been argued that these represents the passageway to the afterlife that definitively separate the deceased from the living loved ones, also preventing a possible revenant. Alternatively, it is possible that these false doors are simply clues of the House plan of the corresponding former house of the deceased.
An example is the villa of Julius Polybius in Pompeii, where a false door is painted on a wall opposite a real door to achieve symmetry. Apart from creating architectural balance, they could serve to make the villa seem larger than it really was.
Inscriptions
The side panels usually are covered in inscriptions naming the deceased along with their titles, and a series of standardized offering formulas. These texts extol the virtues of the deceased and express positive wishes for the afterlife.
Prehistoric Sardinia
Carved or painted Pre-Nuragic false doors appear in about 20 tombs mostly located in northwestern Sardinia, an example being some of the Domus de Janas of the necropolis of Anghelu Ruju, which are variously datable from the Ozieri culture to the Bonnanaro cultures of Pre-Nuragic Sardinia ().
Etruria
In Etruscan tombs the false door has a Dorians design and is always depicted closed. Most often it is painted, but on some occasions it is carved in relief, like in the Tomb of the Charontes at Tarquinia. Unlike the false door in ancient Egyptian tombs, the Etruscan false door has given rise to a diversity of interpretations. It might have been the door to the underworld, similar to its use of the ancient Egypt. It could have been used to mark the place where a new doorway and chamber would be carved for future expansion of the tomb. Another possibility is that it is the door of the tomb itself, as seen from outside. In the Tomb of the Augurs at Tarquinia two men are painted to the left and right of a false door. Their gestures of lamentation indicate that the deceased were considered to be behind the door.
Ancient Rome
Painted doors were used frequently in the decoration of both First- and Second Pompeian Styles interiors of .
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