This is a door lintel from the tomb of Meni.

It is from Dendara, in the mastaba of Meni. Meni was a high-ranking civil servant and he was buried in a large mastaba tomb. This lintel or door-drum is from one of the false doors of the mastaba. The rounded shape imitated the mat above a house door, which was rolled down to shade the house from the sun. The hieroglyphs read ‘The leading-citizen Meni’. It was important to the ancient Egyptians that their name was remembered. Writing it on the door-drum ensured that it was. This is a door lintel from the tomb of Meni. It is made from limestone. It is over 4,000 years old, dating to the 6th Dyansty (2345-2181 BCE) in the Old Kingdom.