DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Myśliwiec, Karol: West Saqqara: Saqqara 2004
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.42090#0155
WEST SAQQARA
in South Saqqara, dating from the very end
of the Old Kingdom.8 Therefore, similar
burials, often with badly destroyed reed cof-
fins, also those found lying freely in the up-
per necropolis, e.g. on the ruins of the mas-
taba of Merefnebef,9 doubtless date from
the late Old Kingdom as well. The body
of the deceased in burial no. 393 was lying
with its head to the north, facing east
[cf. Fig. 81
Most of the reed coffin burials are found
inside small undecorated chambers or niches
hewn on one or two sides at the bottom of
a shaft. Shaft 39 had two burial niches, one
on the east and another on the west side.
Both contained skeletons, the eastern one
with remains of the original garment.
Large quantities of pottery, including
some sealed, possibly complete deposits,
were found during this campaign, some-
times still in situ, and sometimes on the
surface of a shaft, where they were aban-
doned by tomb robbers (e.g. Shaft 38). One
of the shafts (no. 32) and its burial cham-
ber still contained several objects belong-
ing to the original equipment. A 'false door'
was found in two fragments inside this
shaft (cf. illustrations in Z. Godziejewski's
Fig. 6. Square 2104 with Shaft 41 being part of a tomb with vaulted burial chamber containing
a reed coffin (burial no. 393) (Drawing B. Blaszczuk)
8 G. Jequier, Tombeaux de particuliers contemporains de Pepi II (Cairo 1929), 6-8 (M.I), 58-66 (M.IX), 93-94 (N.III),
117-120 (N.VII); J. Vercoutter, L'Egypte et la vallee du Nil, 1. Des origines a la fin de l'Ancien Empire, 12000-2000
av. J.-C. (Paris 1992), 347.
9 K. Mysliwiec, New Faces of Saqqara, Recent discoveries in West Saqqara (Tuchow 1999), Pis. 11, 18.
153
in South Saqqara, dating from the very end
of the Old Kingdom.8 Therefore, similar
burials, often with badly destroyed reed cof-
fins, also those found lying freely in the up-
per necropolis, e.g. on the ruins of the mas-
taba of Merefnebef,9 doubtless date from
the late Old Kingdom as well. The body
of the deceased in burial no. 393 was lying
with its head to the north, facing east
[cf. Fig. 81
Most of the reed coffin burials are found
inside small undecorated chambers or niches
hewn on one or two sides at the bottom of
a shaft. Shaft 39 had two burial niches, one
on the east and another on the west side.
Both contained skeletons, the eastern one
with remains of the original garment.
Large quantities of pottery, including
some sealed, possibly complete deposits,
were found during this campaign, some-
times still in situ, and sometimes on the
surface of a shaft, where they were aban-
doned by tomb robbers (e.g. Shaft 38). One
of the shafts (no. 32) and its burial cham-
ber still contained several objects belong-
ing to the original equipment. A 'false door'
was found in two fragments inside this
shaft (cf. illustrations in Z. Godziejewski's
Fig. 6. Square 2104 with Shaft 41 being part of a tomb with vaulted burial chamber containing
a reed coffin (burial no. 393) (Drawing B. Blaszczuk)
8 G. Jequier, Tombeaux de particuliers contemporains de Pepi II (Cairo 1929), 6-8 (M.I), 58-66 (M.IX), 93-94 (N.III),
117-120 (N.VII); J. Vercoutter, L'Egypte et la vallee du Nil, 1. Des origines a la fin de l'Ancien Empire, 12000-2000
av. J.-C. (Paris 1992), 347.
9 K. Mysliwiec, New Faces of Saqqara, Recent discoveries in West Saqqara (Tuchow 1999), Pis. 11, 18.
153