Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

_WEST SAQQARA_

EGYPT

Excavations on the eastern side of the
tomb (sector G, 20 m N-S, 12 m E-W)
brought to light a conglomeration of
shafts hewn in rock, always having a
superstructure of stone or mudbrick walls.
Most of the 24 shafts identified this season
have been explored. The shafts vary in size
(the deepest one is 17.7 m) and architec-
ture. Usually, there is a burial chamber
(never decorated) at the bottom of the
shaft, but there are also shafts without this
element. One of these (Shaft 2) contains a
blank unfinished limestone sarcophagus
with a skeleton inside (Fig. 5).
Complete or fragmentary skeletons
were also found in some other shafts, but
only traces of other objects belonging to
their original furnishings accompanied
them. Particularly interesting in terms of

Fig. 6. "False door" of Djes-ti, priestess of
Hathor (Photo Z. Kos'c)


architecture is Shaft 3, which has a "false
bottom" approximately in the middle of
the height. An irregular hole hewn in this
"floor" leads to the lower section of this
shaft, which ends in a small burial cham-
ber. A rectangular depression in the floor
of this space served as a sarcophagus and
was found to contain a skeleton. Pottery
from these shafts dates this part of the
necropolis to the Old Kingdom, although
the architectural and topographical
aspects do not exclude continued use in
the First Intermediate Period.
Some of the objects found in the shafts
turned out to be of historical value. These
include three false doors: a large size stele
of Hetepu, a small stele of the lady Djes-ti
(Fig. 6) and that of one Teti-ankh, only
half of which survives (Fig. 7). Although
all of them were made of white limestone,
their decoration displays various tech-
niques. The thin and shallow hieroglyphs
of the first one are in contrast with the
clearly outlined signs of the second, and
the painted inscription of the third. There
are also three fragmentary inscriptions on
limestone blocks belonging to door-jambs
and lintels. These preserve some titles
(without names) and fragments of offering
formulas. Seven small stone models of ves-
sels, a boat and other objects were found at
the bottom of the burial chamber in Shaft
22, while two beautiful wooden statuettes
of squatting men come from the upper
part of other shafts. The eastern border of
this funeral "quarter" is clearly delimited
with the fronts of some small cult chapels
cut into the mudbrick walls following
a N-S course. Some elements of these sim-
ple chapels are made of limestone, and
they resemble "false doors" in shape. In
this respect, they look like the cult chapel
of Meref-nebef described above, which was
also situated on the eastern side of an
architectural funerary complex.

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