The baked clay trays here displayed were probably used as actual offering tables. They have internal divisions and a raised edge which recalls the girdle wall of the typical courtyard of the Egyptian house; they are indeed also known as “soul houses”. Separately manufactured models of funerary offerings – loaves, fishes, cow heads and legs, vegetables – were placed in the middle of the tray; the channels presumably served the purpose of draining out liquid offerings poured directly on the tray.
