Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (18.2006(2008))

SAQQARA

EGYPT

above bedrock level, were built of bricks or
small, more or less irregular stones, then_
covered with mortar and, at least in some
cases, whitewashed. Intentional use of
dressed stone in the construction of the
shafts has not been recorded.
The shafts differ significantly in the
horizontal dimensions (from c. 1 m to over
2 m2) as well as in depth. The larger shafts
are in general also deeper, and have larger
and more elaborate burial chambers,
although there are exceptions from these
rules. Among the shafts dated to the early
phases there are both large and small ones.


Fig. 1. Vertical cross-section through a “model”
burial shaft (K.O. Kuraszkiewicz)

It seems that the dimensions of the shafts
depended mainly on economic reasons;
obviously not everyone could afford a large,
expensive shaft. Apart from this, technical
factors (discussed below) may have also
played a role.
Many shafts have series of small
hollows, spaced at approximately 0.50 m,
cut in two adjoining walls (large shafts) or
in opposite walls (smaller shafts); these
were footholds for descent into the burial
chamber by means of a rope.
In a few cases, an additional small niche
is hewn in one of the shaft walls, usually at
a higher level than that of the burial
chamber. It seems possible that the niches
functioned as a kind of serdab (cf. Drioton,
Lauer 1958: 214-215, Pis II, Illb, Vila),
although in most of them the original
content has not been found.1
Several shafts have a “narrowing” im-
mediately above the ceiling of the burial
chamber — a kind of horizontal shelf with
small, more or less irregular holes leading
to the lower section. During exploration,
the rough, uneven upper surface of the
shelf and irregular opening often give the
impression of an unfinished, empty shaft.
It is therefore tempting to see in this
feature a “false bottom” intended to
deceive potential robbers.
BURIAL CHAMBERS
A burial shaft ends almost always with
a single burial chamber, only exceptionally
with two (e.g. Shaft 39)·
In many cases the burial chamber is
situated at the bottom level of the shaft or
slightly below it, seemingly following an
earlier custom (cf. e.g. Reisner 1942: 85-
103); however, in a number of shafts the

1 A possible exception being the burial shaft Ny-Pepy (Sh. 32), where wooden figurines were found in the niche, see
Mysliwiec 2008.

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