51. Offering (Hetep) Table of Sahiye and Taysiye

This sizable altar was probably once situated near the entrance of the tomb, to provide offerings for the deceased. The owners, siblings Sahiye and Taysiye, were tied to the royal court. They were nephews of a peseto (a viceroy or governor), and one of them was an estate manager for a Meroitic queen. The table’s shape imitates the hieroglyphic symbol for the word ‘offer’ (hetep, a representation of a loaf of bread on a mat), which has a parallel meaning of ‘being pleased/at ease’. Thus, the altar not only received actual offerings, but also manifested the idea of offerings and contentment through its form. The surface of the altar is inscribed with a cursive Meroitic script. Based on parallels of the standardized offertory formula, we know that it invokes the gods Isis and Osiris, names the individuals, and requests water and bread to sustain them in the afterlife. Several symbols in the Meroitic script remain undeciphered. Scan the brown QR code below to see how the hetep symbol looks like and how it resembles the form of this table.