Votive Bed ca. 945-715 B.C. Third Intermediate Period Three votive beds (31.3.108, 31.3.109 and a third in Cairo) and a small stela (31.3.110) were excavated in MMA tomb 825 at Deir el Bahri. These are very well-preserved examples of a type of object that appeared only in Thebes between the 22nd and 26th Dynasties. A number of recent studies of the type and of MMA 31.3.108 in particular have revealed much about their significance and about their many interesting implications for understanding non-temple religious practices and artistic provision for the same. The decoration of these objects includes frontal standing nude females in boats with figureheads like sacred barks, Bes figures, and particular vegetation; some other examples include a kneeling female playing a lute. The decoration carries with it significations for female fertility, conception, and birth. However, it also seems likely that votive beds are associated with the Egyptian New Year festival, and the myth of the return