Petrie, William M. Flinders: Deshasheh: 1897 (London, 1898)

DESHASHEH.

CHAPTER I.

THE TOMB OF ANTA,

(3.) This tomb is the more important of
the two bearing sculptures at Deshasheh. The
position of it is the best in the whole cemetery
(see pis. i., ii.), occupying the brow of a striking
isolated hill at the south end of the plateau
edge. It is obviously the first site to be taken
in the district; and both the sculptured tomb
of Shedu, and the destroyed mastaba of
Nenkheftka—whence the statues come—are far
inferior in position. The execution of it is
also larger, bolder, and apparently earlier than
that of Shedu. It seems very probable that the
tombs were executed in successive order from
south to north, and so the sequence of the
more important is, (1) Anta, (2) Nenkheftka,
(3) Shedu. Now in the tomb of Shedu we find
(pi. xviii.) a son named Tetakhu, belonging
therefore to the first reign of the Vlth Dynasty.
Nenkheftka and his son Nenkheftek might then
probably belong to the latter half of the Vth
Dynasty. And at Saqqara is a tomb of another
Nenkheftka and his son Nenkheftek; these
cannot be the same as the two of Deshasheh,
as the wife of the elder is Neferhoteps at
Saqqara, and Neferseshems at Deshasheh.
Probably therefore the Saqqara men are the
two generations before the Deshasheh men, as
the royal names in their tomb are of Userkaf
and Sahura, at the beginning of the Vth
Dynasty. These relationships of this family
are the more likely as Nenkheftek's nefer name
is Thy ; and Thy of Saqqara was in the second
generation below Nenkheftka there, as seen in
the descent of property (Miss Murray, in Proc.
Soc. Bib. Arch., xvii. 244). Lastly, it is probable
that Anta preceded Nenkheftka, by the position

of his tomb, and therefore he belongs to the
middle of the Vth Dynasty.

To resume in historic order, using provision-
ally the dating which I have given in my
history, so as to see the relation of the

generations

Nenkheftka of Saqqara,
Nenkheftek of Saqqara,

about 3670 B.C.,

. or later,
about 3640 B.C.,

or later,
about 3600 B.C.
about 3570 b.c.

Anta of Deshasheh,

Nenkheftka of Deshasheh

Nenkheftek-Thy of Deshasheh, about 3540 b.c.

(Thy of Saqqara being about 3590 B.C.)

Shedu of Deshasheh, about 3500 B.C.

These dates are roughly the central date
of each life. The subjects and style of the
Deshasheh tombs agree entirely with those of
the same age at Saqqara.

(4.) The tomb-chamber of Anta is cut just
below the top of the isolated hill, at the south
end of the cemetery. Only sufficient thickness
of limestone to form the roof is left above it.
Outside of it there was originally a sloping face
of built blocks of limestone, slightly sunk ; this
doubtless had originally a band of inscription
above the doorway, and perhaps scenes in relief
upon it, as upon the rock-cut facade of Shedu.
Of this front only the foundation remains, just
showing the projection at each end which gave
the sunken effect to it, and the further recess
in which the doorway was placed. Before the
facade the ground was all artificially raised by
a bed of stone chips about three feet thick, from
which two or three steps led down to the door.

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