DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49512#0264
228 THE MASTABA AND THE SUBSTRUCTURE OF PRIVATE TOMBS OF THE REIGN OF SNEFERUW
The substructures, being the secondary line of development, present five different types; see Naga-ed-
Der, III, pp. 8-10, where they are given the following type designations:
Types with shaft and chamber:
Type v d: shaft with chamber on the south:
(i) with square shaft and square chamber; imitation of the large shaft of type V A;
twelve examples.
Type v e: long shaft with long side chamber; probably derived from the older side-chamber tomb,
but affected by the ordinary shaft tomb; two examples.
Open-pit types:
Type v c: open pit in which has been constructed a stone-roofed c.b. chamber opening to the north,
and a vertical shaft in the north end; in construction like the large open-pit tombs
at Medum (compare Rahotep); three examples.
Type v a: open pit in which a closed corbel has been built; two forms, rectangular and circular;
rectangular form developed from stone-roofed well (type iv a), with substitution
of corbel roofing for stone roofing (cf. development of type III from type II);
circular form, an adaptation to the circular pottery burial-cist; total examples,
fifteen.
Type v b: open pit of long form with c.b. chamber roofed with c.b. arch of simple construction;
five examples.
Type v f: open pit containing a contracted burial, usually in wooden box; the descendant of the
simple open-pit type used for poor burials from the Predynastic period to the end
of Dyn. Ill; twenty-three examples.
These types and the examples are fully discussed in Naga-ed-Der, III. They cover apparently the greater
part of Dyn. IV, but most of the types had been introduced by the end of the reign of Sneferuw.
The general character of the secondary line of development, that of the small tombs, during the
reign of Sneferuw, is fully shown in this cemetery. The two chief divisions are the group of shaft with
chamber forms and that of open-pit type. Both these groups are affected by older secondary types and
by contemporaneous large types. The shaft and chamber graves are in part an imitation of the large
shaft graves of the period, and yet in a few examples are based on the side-chamber pits of Dyn. I—III.
Similarly the open-pit graves are in part a continuation of the simple open pit, in part a development of
the stone-roofed grave of Dyn. Ill, and finally in part a combination of the open pit and the shaft type.
The last named, type v c, has a chamber with stone roof, constructed like the older stone-roofed graves
of type iv a, but with the northern end of the brick chamber left open to be approached by a shaft
constructed in the northern end of the open pit. This latter feature was obviously derived from the
ordinary shaft type of tombs. In no other cemetery known to me is any period represented by so many
different types of small tombs.
b. Mastabas at El-Kab of the Reign of Sneferuw
At El-Kab a group of four larger and two smaller mastabas lie north of the great city wall (see
Quibell, El Kab, pl. XXIII). One of these, A (Ka-mena), contained two diorite bowls inscribed with
the name of Sneferuw and is therefore from the latter part of that reign or the early part of the reign of
Cheops. This group of mastabas was the northern end of a large cemetery crossed by the great city wall,
so that its continuation southwards lies inside the city. The part of the cemetery within the walls
The substructures, being the secondary line of development, present five different types; see Naga-ed-
Der, III, pp. 8-10, where they are given the following type designations:
Types with shaft and chamber:
Type v d: shaft with chamber on the south:
(i) with square shaft and square chamber; imitation of the large shaft of type V A;
twelve examples.
Type v e: long shaft with long side chamber; probably derived from the older side-chamber tomb,
but affected by the ordinary shaft tomb; two examples.
Open-pit types:
Type v c: open pit in which has been constructed a stone-roofed c.b. chamber opening to the north,
and a vertical shaft in the north end; in construction like the large open-pit tombs
at Medum (compare Rahotep); three examples.
Type v a: open pit in which a closed corbel has been built; two forms, rectangular and circular;
rectangular form developed from stone-roofed well (type iv a), with substitution
of corbel roofing for stone roofing (cf. development of type III from type II);
circular form, an adaptation to the circular pottery burial-cist; total examples,
fifteen.
Type v b: open pit of long form with c.b. chamber roofed with c.b. arch of simple construction;
five examples.
Type v f: open pit containing a contracted burial, usually in wooden box; the descendant of the
simple open-pit type used for poor burials from the Predynastic period to the end
of Dyn. Ill; twenty-three examples.
These types and the examples are fully discussed in Naga-ed-Der, III. They cover apparently the greater
part of Dyn. IV, but most of the types had been introduced by the end of the reign of Sneferuw.
The general character of the secondary line of development, that of the small tombs, during the
reign of Sneferuw, is fully shown in this cemetery. The two chief divisions are the group of shaft with
chamber forms and that of open-pit type. Both these groups are affected by older secondary types and
by contemporaneous large types. The shaft and chamber graves are in part an imitation of the large
shaft graves of the period, and yet in a few examples are based on the side-chamber pits of Dyn. I—III.
Similarly the open-pit graves are in part a continuation of the simple open pit, in part a development of
the stone-roofed grave of Dyn. Ill, and finally in part a combination of the open pit and the shaft type.
The last named, type v c, has a chamber with stone roof, constructed like the older stone-roofed graves
of type iv a, but with the northern end of the brick chamber left open to be approached by a shaft
constructed in the northern end of the open pit. This latter feature was obviously derived from the
ordinary shaft type of tombs. In no other cemetery known to me is any period represented by so many
different types of small tombs.
b. Mastabas at El-Kab of the Reign of Sneferuw
At El-Kab a group of four larger and two smaller mastabas lie north of the great city wall (see
Quibell, El Kab, pl. XXIII). One of these, A (Ka-mena), contained two diorite bowls inscribed with
the name of Sneferuw and is therefore from the latter part of that reign or the early part of the reign of
Cheops. This group of mastabas was the northern end of a large cemetery crossed by the great city wall,
so that its continuation southwards lies inside the city. The part of the cemetery within the walls