A14 is entered from the north-west corner of A13, through an entrance which is smaller than most in the structure. It is only 1.6m in height, though its width is normal at 0.7m. It is designed for a door opening into the corridor. A14 is about 4.4m long and just over 1.0m wide. At the west end of A14 the direct changes south, into corridor A16, which has a width of 1.4m and a length of 6.6m. Storeroom A15 is entered from halfway along the south wall of A14. It has a width of 2.1m (east-west) and a length of 1.9m. The south wall of the chamber has been cut through and communication established between this and chamber A9 (through its north wall). All of the other storerooms are accessed from corridor A16. Rooms A17-A19 having the same dimensions : 2.3m east-west and 1.5m north-south. Rooms A20 and A21 merge with each other and are accessed from the southern end of corridor A16. The size of A21 is similar to rooms A17-A19, but A20 is slightly smaller and of an irregular shape. These two chambers may in fact have been considered as one. In antiquity, a doorway appears to have been cut through between the east wall of A20 and the west wall of A9, after the completion of the decoration in A9. This was again blocked up in antiquity. None of these chambers (corridors and storerooms) had been decorated, although above the doorways into chambers A15 and A17-A20 is a small inscription which states that they are all "second class" storerooms and indicates their possible use. The fact that A21 does not carry an inscription further indicates that the two rooms (A20-A21) were in fact only one; the numbering being the invention of the modern day archaeologists. All of the storerooms, with the exception of A21, were designed for inward opening doors.
The entrance from the shaft into the burial chamber, permitting passage of the sarcophagus, was afterwards closed by a wall of large limestone blocks. A smaller passage was left to form the entrance and was finally closed with a slab of limestone fitting into groves on either side. The security of the chamber was not dependant on the "portcullis", but on the shaft being in-filled. Although it would appear at first sight that the sarcophagus base is part of the original bed-rock, because it entirely fits the west end of the chamber, this is not so. Before the positioning of the fine limestone facing of the chamber and the blocking of the larger entrance from the shaft, there was just room to manoeuvre the large and heavy base down the shaft and into position. The side walls of the chamber were then lined with the limestone blocks. The front east face of the sarcophagus was extended forwards by approx 1.25m, it is this surface which is decorated, not that of the actual sarcophagus. The chamber is perfectly preserved, but its decoration was left unfinished. The representations and lists of offerings are beautifully drawn in black outline on the the white of the limestone. The original draught sketches drawn in red can still be seen under the final black lines. The decorations were intended to be filled in with colour, but this was only accomplished on the east wall. None of the surfaces were cut in relief. The side walls of the entrance passage were also decorated, each side having ten columns of text, again in black outline, but in some cases they were filled with yellow. The text is identical on both sides, the content being a message of welcome to the deceased : "Welcome, welcome ! says the fair West, her arms outstretched to" - here follows some of his titles, then a list of those by whom he is honoured (starting with the king). Finally it finishes with "whose good name is Meri.". Note his full name of Mereruka is not used. It should also be noted that in the burial chamber there are no images of servants, officials or family; not even live animals are represented. Because we are in the most intimate space, the one which is directly in contact with Mereruka, he and only he must now "awaken" and take possession of the offerings, to regenerate his Ka. The east wall :
Each register is accompanied by a descriptive text (two rows in the case of the one at the top register), placed above above it. - register 1 : the lowest; contains, on each side, three carcasses laying on their backs, legs tied; a forelimb has been placed on each. The text, on both sides, starts "Bringing choice cuts", then above each carcass the text identifies the animal; each side has a young ox and two young oryx. On each side, a further line of text (above) states that there are "a 1000 of cattle, a 1000 of oryx" for the deceased. - register 2 : has, on either side of the entry, seven representation of grain silos. The narrow strip above the entry contains a variety of small containers. The line of text states: "Bringing all beautiful offerings for", followed by the deceased's titles and name of Meri. - register 3 : at its centre, above the entry, are four heaps of different produce or grain. On either side are both large and small containers with a wide selection of offerings. The line of text above lists these in their 1000s. - register 4 : the upper of the four registers, again contains vessels of assorted sizes and shapes. Two lines of text rest above this register. The upper one beginning "(A boon which the king) gives, a boon which Anubis gives". This is followed by a list in 1000s; for the ka of, then some of the deceased's titles and his name as Mereruka. The second line begins "For the ka of" and again some of the deceased's titles and his name as Meri. The south and north walls :
- 1st : east end : consists of four registers of food and drink offerings. The top and bottom registers, which are much wider than the middle two, contain an assortment of containers on top of which is piled a vast number of foods, including meats, fish, poultry and breads. The middle two registers each contain five ox carcasses laying on their backs, legs tied; a forelimb has been placed on each. - 2nd : an offering list of 99 entries distributed in three registers. Each register is sub-divided into three : at the top is the descriptive text; next an indication of the individual package (i.e. jar, container, joint, etc.); at the bottom is the quantity - 3rd : five vertical columns of text, forming a dedication for the offerings. The first, east-most, column begins "For the Ka of .." followed by some of his titles. The four remaining columns all start with his titles. Each column alternatively ends in either "Meri" or "Mereruka"; the two outer and the middle one being "Meri". - 4th : above a design of mats or awnings stretched on frames, a horizontal line of text extends from the top of the five previous columns to the west wall, behind the sarcophagus. It is another list of his titles, which again end only with "Meri". The west wall : This wall is divided into two, horizontally.
- the top and bottom registers contain vases and jars. The content of each vessel is named. Also, each is accompanied by a short piece of text stating "For the Ka of .." followed by one or more titles, then either "Meri" or "Mereruka". - the middle register contains five boxes, on both left and right-hand sides. A dedication, ending in each case with "Meri", runs horizontally over the content of each box. The second area is again divided into two, but this time by the ramp leading to the sarcophagus lid. Like the west end of the north and south walls, these are decorated with mat or awning designs. The sarcophagus : The base is approx. 4.0m north-south, 1.75m east-west and just over 1 metre in height. The inner area, to accept the coffin, is approx. 2.25m north-south, 0.8m east-west and 0.8m deep. The inner area is offset from centre, moved towards the western edge. The lid is approx. 3.5m north-south, 1.75m east-west and 30cm thick. The whole sarcophagus is inscribed on the top and east side of the lid, and on all four surfaces inside the coffer (11-12cm. below the top edge). The outer inscriptions show no colour; the inner ones have some green paint. - On the top of the lid, the text runs centrally from the north end to the south. As usual it is a short list of Mereruka's titles and his name. - Along the east (visible) side of the lid, again north to south, is a slightly different list of titles to the one on top. - The inscriptions inside the sarcophagus base, as expected, are again title lists ending in his name. The north and south ends are obviously shorter than those which run along the east and west sides. 1. Along the upper surface of the lid, about 30cm. east of the central axis of the same, and 50cm. from the east edge. It commences 52cm. from the north end, and finishes 42cm. from the south end: "The Hereditary Noble and Count, Chief Justice and Vizier, Sole Companion, Lector Priest, Scribe of the God's Book, Director of every Divine Office, Meri; Door-keeper(?) of (the god) Dewaw, who has Might with the Gods, Meri; Overseer of the Two Sides (of Rowers?) of the Boat of the Physicians of the Great House, Mereruka". 2. Along the east side of the lid, 21cm. below top edge, 21cm. above bottom edge, commencing 10cm. from north end and ending 10cm. from south end: "The Hereditary Noble and Count, Chief Justice and Vizier, Chief Lector Priest, Hand of ...., Sole Companion, Mortuary-priest of Anubis, .... of Anubis, Master of the Great Ones, Scribe of the God's Book, Director of every Divine Office, Director of the Two Seats, Mereruka whose good name is Meri". 3. On inner north end of coffer: "Hereditary Noble and Count, Meri; Chief Justice and Vizier, Meri". 4. On inner east side of coffer: "Lector Priest, Domain-Administrator of (the vineyard) 'Star-of-Horus-President-of-Heaven', Meri; (Sole) Confidant of the King out of his Two Banks, Meri; Staff of (the goddess) Hesat, Sole Companion, Mereruka whose good name is Meri". 5 and 6. On inner west side and south end of coffer, respectively: (5) "The Hereditary Noble and Count, Chief Lector Priest, Hand of ...., Sole Companion, .... of Anubis, Mortuary priest of Anubis, Scribe of the God's Book, Director of every Divine Office, Director of the Two Seats, Director of the Mansions of the Waters, who is in honour with Osiris, Hand of ...., (6) Meri; Master of the Secrets of the Toilet-house, Sole Companion, Meri".
When the burial shaft was cleared in 1921/2, it became apparent that the burial chamber had been broken into in antiquity. This was confirmed by the finding of part of an alabaster headrest in the well shaft, bearing the name of Mereruka. This also confirmed that the sarcophagus must have been opened. On entering the chamber, it was found that the lid of the sarcophagus had been moved forwards and the body of Mereruka had been broken up and scattered. The body having been cut to pieces to remove the flesh and linen to get to any precious adornments. From the examination of his remains, it was found that Mereruka was middle aged, and not an old man. His skull was not typical of the period, his face being short and wide and having a protruding jaw, but he was not Negroid. There were no traces of an inner wooden coffin, but part of an eye of alabaster for inlaying in wood would seem to show that one must have existed. The wood of the coffin may have been gilded and therefore broken into small pieces for removal. The chamber contained several objects, all of which were in fragments; the exception being a large (0.5m tall) red granite jar. The other objects were : a set of large alabaster canopic jars, various vessels (some with handles) and dishes of alabaster or limestone, two circular alabaster offering tables (inscribed with the name and titles of Mereruka), an alabaster ring-stand and model copper tools.
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