Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (19.2007(2010))

SAQQARA

EGYPT

CONCLUSIONS

Observations of strata making up the
exposures of Phase I have led to some general
conclusions concerning the functioning of
the Lower Necropolis in the hundred years
between 2700 and 2600 BC. This regards in
particular the unfinished tomb with ramp
discovered in the western part of sector 2002
(on this tomb, cf. Mysliwiec 2005a; 2005b;
2006b, Welc 2007). Assuming that the
dating of the structure to the end of Second
or beginning of the Third Dynasty is correct
(Mysliwiec 2005a; 2007; Welc 2007; Welc
2009: 177-178; see also suggestion of a later
dating to the close of the Third and early
Fourth Dynasty, Kuraszkiewicz 2009: 170),
the cessation of work on this hypogeum may
be connected with its unfortunate location
on the slope and in the line of concentrated
flows from the east, from the complex of
Netjerykhet. In effect, the planned tomb
would have been threatened by frequent
flooding and filling with recurring mud and
rubble flows.
Pebble long-axis analyses carried out for
the upper red layer (L3) and the lower red
layer (L5) have contributed important data
on the ground relief in the area at the time.
The mud and rubble flows which are
responsible for the formation of these layers
flowed mainly from the east. This means
that there was no physical barrier in that
direction. This refutes the theory that the
so-called Western Massif, the west face of
which is found just beyond the enclosure
wall, was constructed earlier than the Step
Pyramid complex.5

Had such a monumental structure
existed in this location before the time of
the Third Dynasty, the water-flow pattern
in this part of the site would have been
different from that recorded by the present
research.
In summary, based on the analysis of
deposits making up the profile of Phase II, it
can be supposed that the Lower Necropolis
went out of use mainly due to the effects of
climatic changes which took place at the
turn of the Old Kingdom and the First
Intermediate Period. In the initial phase of
these environmental changes, the climate
was very humid and characterized by
intensive rainfall. An extended period of
intensive rainfall resulted in the destruction
of the mastaba superstructures and
penetration by the rainwater of at least some
shafts which remained open after
plundering. The waters stagnated in many
seasonal reservoirs all over the area of the
necropolis.
Under such conditions the necropolis
could not have been used for burial
purposes any longer. In successive stages, the
climate became drier and characterized by
heavy winds. No building activities took
place within the confines of the study area
until the appearance of the mud-brick
platform, presumably in the beginnings of
the Nineteenth Dynasty. The area of this
necropolis started to be used intensively
again for burials in the Ptolemaic age
(cf. Mysliwiec 2002a; Mysliwiec et alii
2008: 11-13).

5 According to R. Stadelmann, the Western Massif is an independent architectural structure predating the building of the Step
Pyramid, cf. Stadelmann 1985. New ceramological analyses have shown, however, that the westernmost projection of the
Western Massif was built or at least rebuilt during the reign of Netjerykhet, see T.I. Rzeuska and F. Welc, in this volume.

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Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean 19, Reports 2007