Door Jamb

King Merenptah is shown in a smiting pose defeating Asiatic enemies. The lioness bounds forward to assist. The King is flanked by an anthropomorphic standard bearing a hieroglyphic text. Before the king are 2 columns of text with his names in cartouches. Above the smiting scene are the ends of two columns of large hieroglyphs. The king wears the crown of upper and lower Egypt. The scene is historical, for Merenptah's armies fought in the Levant, but also symbolic. It represents the royal ideology of pharaoh dominant over all foreigners and provides magical protection against supernatural evil that might enter through the side doorway in which the jamb was set.