Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (11.1999(2000))

WEST SAQQARA

EGYPT

demanded a retaining north-south wall to
be built here. A low step (10-15 cm high)
visible in the ground to the west most
probably corresponds to the western face of
this wall, the existence of the latter further
confirmed by traces of white gypsum mor-
tar in front of the step. The wall is even
more obvious in the north and south sides
of the trench, where a big cut, exactly in
line with the presumed wall, can be
observed {Fig. 1). The angular fragments of
fine limestone that fill this "ghost-wall" are
all that has been left of the plundered and
cut wall blocks. Rough limestone blocks
and mudbricks found arranged in a N-S
line on the upper level to the east of the
slanting step may suggest that the wall
was intended not only as a means to correct
the direction taken by the terrace, but was
wider and higher, creating a kind of addi-
tional temenos wall.
Another structure, which may be con-
nected with this phase of occupation of the
site is an enigmatic corridor, hewn in the
underlying layers of tafl,6) discovered in
1999 during the exploration of Shaft 37 at
the west end of trench I/Fl. It seems that
the constructors of the shaft (most probably
in the Sixth Dynasty) accidentally broke
into it. The corridor continues eastward,
possibly as far as 80 m, in the general direc-
tion of the Netjerykhet complex, with
which it may perhaps be related. At its
western end (about ten meters away from
the shaft) it seems to be cut and filled with

debris coming from the surface, possibly
reflecting the position of the Dry Moat.
This particular arrangement of the area
most probably reflects the fact that the
main access to the Second-Third Dynasty
royal necropolis, and especially to the Step
Pyramid complex, was from the north,
starting at Wadi Abusir and following the
western and then southern edges of the
Dry Moat.7) Thus, the view of the complex
and its neighborhood from the west was of
primary importance.8)
This phase may plausibly be dated to
the reign of Netjerykhet
II. SIXTH DYNASTY NECROPOLIS
The Sixth Dynasty necropolis consisted of
three parts, each with different characteris-
tics, arranged longitudinally, following the
terraced .cut of the ground. It seems that at
some point in time between the creation of
the terraces and the building of the first
tombs a considerable amount of debris
(limestone breccia, tafl, and brick frag-
ments) was accumulated on the surface in
this area (especially on the upper steps).
Consequently, all the structures of the
necropolis between Meref-nebefs chapel
and the temenos wall were built on top of
this debris, in some places as high as two
meters above bedrock. An exact date for
this deposit is still difficult to establish.
The necropolis consisted of:
A. Lower area, including the tomb
complex of vizier Meref-nebef, and possi-

6) Tafl (Arabic) is a marl, clayey rock. At Saqqara, layered gray and yellow-brown-colored tafl strata intersect strata of ter-
tiary limestone.
7) Cf. D. Jeffreys, A. Tavares, "The historic landscape of Early Dynastic Memphis", MDAIK 50 (1994), 150-1.
8) I. Mathieson, director of the National Museums of Scotland Survey Project to study the West Saqqara area from the
Abusir valley down to Gisr el-Mudir, is of the opinion that a large part of the rock surface in the so-called West Wadi, also
outside the Dry Moat, was leveled during the Second or Third Dynasty (personal communication).
^ Its lower layer, which could possibly be dated to the Third Dynasty, is, at least in the most part, a natural gravel sed-
iment, consisting of limestone breccia, flint and chert pebbles, and plant remnants (Mycielska-Dowgiallo, Szafranski,
Woronko, op. cit., 169-170). The remaining part of the debris could have been accumulated in the late Fifth or early Sixth
Dynasty, when the area south and west of the Step Pyramid became a popular burial ground.

Ill