DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49512#0284
248 DEVELOPMENT OF THE SUPERSTRUCTURES OF PRIVATE TOMBS: DYN. I-III, AND SNEFERUW
(3) The last of the mastabas with elaborate palace-facade panelling on all four sides
In Dyn. II the palace-facade mastaba is at present unrepresented until the reign of Khasekhemuwy
or later. There are in the Archaic Cemetery at Saqqarah five large mastabas, QS 2302 (1,893 S(l- m-)>
QS 2171 (913 sq. m.), QS 2307 (882 sq. m.), FS 3042 (539 sq. m.), and FS 3031 (799 sq. m.), but these
are all of them two-niche mastabas. The last example of a palace-facade mastaba with elaborate panelling
on all four sides is the mastaba Giza T, which I date to the reign of Khasekhemuwy, that is, at the
beginning of the archaeological group characteristic of Dyn. III. The chapel of this mastaba was either
not preserved or is insufficiently reported by the two excavators who dealt with it. Probably there was
a roofed corridor chapel along the eastern facade with painted decorations similar to those of Hesy-ra.
The substructure is of type IV B (1), with an elaborate complex of rooms. The superstructure was of
solid brick-work (see Fig. 73).
(4) Mastaba with elaborate panelling on the valley side only: Dynasty III
The elaborate panelling, the palace-facade panelling, continued in use during Dyn. Ill, but appeared
no longer on all four faces of the mastaba. The only mastaba of this form is the Hesy-ra mastaba
(QS 2405), dated to the reign of Zoser. The eastern facade of the mastaba, forming the west wall of the
interior corridor chapel, bore a series of eleven great niches, flanked on north and south and separated
by panels each of which bore three small niches. The fez-door in the back of each great niche had
a wooden door-panel carved in relief, a wooden drum, and a wooden cross-bar. The sides of the great
niche and the outer panels were painted in bright colours with representations of mats fastened by
cords to wooden poles. The opposite east wall of the corridor was painted with picture lists of funerary
furniture. An exterior chapel of several rooms was added later around the doorway to the corridor
chapel, and a wall of at least one of these rooms was painted with a swamp-scene. The Hesy-ra mastaba
was, like Giza T, of solid brick-work, and its substructure was also of type IV B (1):
1. QS 2095: Hesy-ra; with substructure of type IV B (1); see p. 158.
The Hesy-ra mastaba presents the last example of unbroken mastaba panelling. A little earlier than
the Hesy-ra mastaba and in Dyn. HI there appears a variation of the two-niched mastaba in which the
chief or southern compound niche is replaced by an elaborate niche presenting one element of the
palace-facade panelling, a great door flanked on each side by two or three niches. This palace-facade
niche developed into the interior cruciform chapel with palace-facade panelling, again one element,
on its western wall. Thereafter two mastabas at Saqqarah, FS 3070 and FS 3073, have an elaborate
palace-facade panelling along the eastern face, protected by a roofed corridor chapel, but in both these
mastabas the panelling is interrupted by two interior chapels opening from the back of a great door.
The simplified panelling also continues in two-niched mastabas and in mastabas with interior chapels.
These are dealt with below.
4. LARGE TWO-NICHED MASTABAS FROM LATE DYNASTY I TO SNEFERUW
All the large mastabas with two niches so far as now known have unequal niches. The southern niche
in these large tombs is always larger and more elaborate than the northern niche, and by this fact marked
out as the chief offering-place. In the palace-facade mastaba, Tarkhan 1060, with substructure type
I B (2), the niche actually used for offerings was just south of the middle and opposite the southern
half of the main burial-chamber. In the Hesy-ra chapel it was the fifth niche in a series of eleven which
was indicated by the table-scene on the panel as the chief offering-place. The larger southern niche
of the two-niche mastaba is in all cases approximately opposite the actual burial. It may therefore be
(3) The last of the mastabas with elaborate palace-facade panelling on all four sides
In Dyn. II the palace-facade mastaba is at present unrepresented until the reign of Khasekhemuwy
or later. There are in the Archaic Cemetery at Saqqarah five large mastabas, QS 2302 (1,893 S(l- m-)>
QS 2171 (913 sq. m.), QS 2307 (882 sq. m.), FS 3042 (539 sq. m.), and FS 3031 (799 sq. m.), but these
are all of them two-niche mastabas. The last example of a palace-facade mastaba with elaborate panelling
on all four sides is the mastaba Giza T, which I date to the reign of Khasekhemuwy, that is, at the
beginning of the archaeological group characteristic of Dyn. III. The chapel of this mastaba was either
not preserved or is insufficiently reported by the two excavators who dealt with it. Probably there was
a roofed corridor chapel along the eastern facade with painted decorations similar to those of Hesy-ra.
The substructure is of type IV B (1), with an elaborate complex of rooms. The superstructure was of
solid brick-work (see Fig. 73).
(4) Mastaba with elaborate panelling on the valley side only: Dynasty III
The elaborate panelling, the palace-facade panelling, continued in use during Dyn. Ill, but appeared
no longer on all four faces of the mastaba. The only mastaba of this form is the Hesy-ra mastaba
(QS 2405), dated to the reign of Zoser. The eastern facade of the mastaba, forming the west wall of the
interior corridor chapel, bore a series of eleven great niches, flanked on north and south and separated
by panels each of which bore three small niches. The fez-door in the back of each great niche had
a wooden door-panel carved in relief, a wooden drum, and a wooden cross-bar. The sides of the great
niche and the outer panels were painted in bright colours with representations of mats fastened by
cords to wooden poles. The opposite east wall of the corridor was painted with picture lists of funerary
furniture. An exterior chapel of several rooms was added later around the doorway to the corridor
chapel, and a wall of at least one of these rooms was painted with a swamp-scene. The Hesy-ra mastaba
was, like Giza T, of solid brick-work, and its substructure was also of type IV B (1):
1. QS 2095: Hesy-ra; with substructure of type IV B (1); see p. 158.
The Hesy-ra mastaba presents the last example of unbroken mastaba panelling. A little earlier than
the Hesy-ra mastaba and in Dyn. HI there appears a variation of the two-niched mastaba in which the
chief or southern compound niche is replaced by an elaborate niche presenting one element of the
palace-facade panelling, a great door flanked on each side by two or three niches. This palace-facade
niche developed into the interior cruciform chapel with palace-facade panelling, again one element,
on its western wall. Thereafter two mastabas at Saqqarah, FS 3070 and FS 3073, have an elaborate
palace-facade panelling along the eastern face, protected by a roofed corridor chapel, but in both these
mastabas the panelling is interrupted by two interior chapels opening from the back of a great door.
The simplified panelling also continues in two-niched mastabas and in mastabas with interior chapels.
These are dealt with below.
4. LARGE TWO-NICHED MASTABAS FROM LATE DYNASTY I TO SNEFERUW
All the large mastabas with two niches so far as now known have unequal niches. The southern niche
in these large tombs is always larger and more elaborate than the northern niche, and by this fact marked
out as the chief offering-place. In the palace-facade mastaba, Tarkhan 1060, with substructure type
I B (2), the niche actually used for offerings was just south of the middle and opposite the southern
half of the main burial-chamber. In the Hesy-ra chapel it was the fifth niche in a series of eleven which
was indicated by the table-scene on the panel as the chief offering-place. The larger southern niche
of the two-niche mastaba is in all cases approximately opposite the actual burial. It may therefore be