Museum Object (MO) number: 4 and 9 Material: limestone Provenance: Memphis, Kôm el-Qal‘a, palace of Merneptah (QAB) Period: New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty, Merneptah This pair of large limestone column bases once adorned the hypostyle throne room of the palace of Merneptah in Memphis, which was located in a separate enclosure at Kôm el-Qal‘a within the ancient urban area that developed on the west of Ptah’s sacred precinct. These are particularly unique because they provide a glimpse of the architecture and decoration of royal residences during the Ramesside period. When C. S. Fischer excavated the remarkably well-preserved palace in 1917 on behalf of the University of Pennsylvania Museum in Philadelphia, he found this pair of column bases in situ, embedded on both sides of a royal platform, accessible through a front ramp and two side stairs. This platform is one of the best, if not the best-, preserved throne dais excavated to date
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