THE NORTH CHAMBER
This, as indicated by its name, is on the north side of the main chamber. Originally, the only entry was through the central opening, the two lateral ones being blocked after the completion of the decoration of the chapel. The most striking sight is that of the ten statues which occupy the rear wall. The chamber is not perfectly oblong (see ), being 4.52m width at the south end and 4.77m at the north, and it is approximately 2.60m in length. Its north-south axis is on the same mid-line as the main chamber. It average height is 2.08m, but the floor level is 20cm lower than that of the main chamber.
The east wall (see ) and west (see ) are uninscribed, as is the rear surface of the entry pillars.
The north wall is occupied, centrally, in almost its entire length and height, by a niche of about 15cm in depth, leaving a border around its edge. This contains the ten standing figures of women, whose size decreases from right to left.
At the top, above the niche, is a long architrave bearing the following text, with slight damage at the beginning and end: "[The king’s wife, Hetep]heres. Her daughter, the beholder of Horus and Seth, the great favourite, the companion of Horus, consort of he who is beloved of the Two Mistresses, follower of Horus, the king’s daughter of his body, belov[ed] companion of Horus, [the king’s wife Mere]sankh.".
The identification of the statues remains a problem due to the absence of individual text. It can be noted that three separate groups exist. The first is formed of the three at extreme right, which could represent Hetepheres (see ). The next is that of the following four, Meresankh (see ). The final one is a group of three, at the left side of the niche (see ), the slightly smaller eighth character perhaps represents Shepseskau, the daughter of Meresankh, and the two smaller ones are probably two of her younger daughters. The left arm of the right-most girl is held around the waist of "Shepseskau".
Today the faces of statues 4,7, 8 and 9 have lost their faces, although they were present when the photographs of Dunham were taken (compare ). Now visible in the central area of the heads of these four is square section hole, its purpose is unknown. The image of the leftmost statue has suffered damage since the tomb was originally photographed.
THE WEST CHAMBER
This is also referred to as the "Offering Chamber". The access is through two doorways, each of which were originally fitted with double doors of wood and opening into the main chamber. These have now disappeared, and the access through the one on the right is closed (for safety) by a metal barrier (see ). The chamber measures, on average, 5.45m (north-south) by 2.62m; the height varies from 2.35m (south end) to 2.22m (see ). Slightly off centre, is the entry shaft which descends to the burial chamber, approximately 2m square and 5m deep.
South wall
(See , , , and ) This wall, 2.62m in length, was almost entirely covered with a dark pink plaster, with the imagery highlighted in an even darker red. The hieroglyphic texts were produced in white. The right-hand side has suffered severely, and no colour is preserved. It is therefore necessary to refer to the line drawing of Dunham and Simpson, which shows that the wall was divided into two registers, the top one being about twice the height of the bottom one. At top right, Meresankh is seated in front of a "placard" detailing the offerings which are made to her. In the bottom register, several men give account to a steward who is seated on the right.
Top register
1) - To the right of the placard
Queen Meresankh, hardly identifiable, is seated on a low-backed chair with bull-shaped legs. Her right hand is stretched toward the upright loaves of bread which stand on a small table, her left arm is held across her chest. Immediately in front of her face, above the table, and partially destroyed, is an inscription: "The beholder of Horus and Seth, the great […], the one who is intimate with Horus, the priestess of Hathor, […] the beloved companion of Horus, whom he loves, the follower of Horus, [the king's daughter…]
. According to Fischer, the queen was dressed in a feline skin over her dress, a reminder of the famous representation of Nefertiabet in the Louvre, which dates from the IVth Dynasty (see ).
2) - The placard
At the centre of the register, is the rectangular grid usually referred to as a "placard", which groups together the list of offerings and quantities presented to Meresankh. This is divided into small rectangles, bordered by a darker red frame, each containing, in white, the name of the item, with the quantity being written at the bottom. These are displayed in five rows, the top three of which contain 19 and the bottom ones containing 18 (see ).
Below the bottom row is a very damaged inscription: "[……] for the king’s wife, Meresankh, at the time of every festival (and) every day, for eternity".
3) - To the left of the placard
This is divided into two superimposed sub-registers. The characters portrayed in them face to the right.
Upper sub-register
On the right, a man kneels on the ground with his left knee raised, above him is the inscription: "To be glorified by the embalmer"
. The word used by the first priest, who, whilst always kneeling, can make three different gestures no doubt related to the glorification ritual known as "s_akh"
, which could be rendered as "to glorify" (or "to make divine"). The word "akh"
usually means "life" or "to live", but here possibly "glorified", "transformed", because it is related to glorification hymns which were recited during nocturnal mourning ceremonies, at least since the New Kingdom, and probably before. These hymns were aimed at making the deceased become an akhu
, favoured in the other world and also a person who is remembered on earth (and thus one whose funerary cult will last). He raises his left arm toward the placard, whilst his right hand, palm upwards, rests on his thigh. Beneath his outstretched arm are four objects: a loaf, a jar, a round cake and possibly a ewer and basin.
Behind him kneels another man, this time unidentified, possibly his assistant. He holds a loaf in each of his outstretched hands.
Lower sub-register
Three men walk towards Meresankh. The first, who holds a bird by its neck and its wings, is identified by the text above him as: "The controller of the dining pavilion, Rery"
, who has already been encountered. The second character transports a goose in his arms, and the third holds a large leg of beef with his hands. Neither of these last two are identified.
Bottom register
(See , and .) The whole of this register is now almost without colour.
Above the occupants of the register is a line of text identifying the content, although it is very damaged at the beginning (right-hand side). This states: "Taking inventory of her house of eternity, before the steward.
(interrupted here by a head) Bringing the persons responsible in front of the courthouse, under guard".
At the extreme right sits a man facing left, with vases and pots in front of him, on a low table, possibly scribal equipment. He is identified by the text above him as Khemetnu
. This name has already been found in the description of the statues occupying the niches of the south wall, in the main chamber.
Five scribes face him, all squatting on one knee, and taking note of the results of the cross-examinations, establishing thus an accounting. They each hold a tablet or papyrus in the left hand, writing with the other.
A man, who holds a stick, forces an unhappy unfortunate to advance, bent double.
Four others, squatting behind, wait for their turn to be judged, obviously worried, as seen from their subdued attitude; the first and the third look backwards towards the two stewards standing at the rear.
The first of the two stewards has his hand placed on the head of the man in front of him, possibly trying to force him to face forwards.
North wall
(See , , ) This 2.17m wall was, like the previous one, covered with a dark pink plaster and was decorated to almost its full length. It is damaged on the left (west) side and almost all of the colours have disappeared.
The scenic area is divided into four registers, dedicated to scenes of festival as well as to the preparation of bread and beer, which is brought to a shelter. Occupying the height of the top two registers, Meresankh is seated at the left side (west) of the wall, a spectator of the festivities (see ). She is seated on a poorly defined chair, holding the stem of a lotus in her right hand, and possibly another in her raised left hand, although the blossom is now missing. No jewelry is now visible on her image.
In front of her is a short column of text, identifying simply her as: "The great favourite, the king's daughter, Meresankh"
. To her right, the two registers are dedicated to dance and music (see ).
Register 1 (top)
In total the register includes nine men, all facing Meresankh. At the left, two men advance towards her, holding poultry in their hands. The title of the first is partially preserved: "[Director of] the dining pavilion, the funerary priest […]"
. The following five men, all musicians, although one is a chanter, squat on the ground with their right knee raised. The first two are playing the harp. The next two are flutists, the first of whom plays a long flute which he holds diagonally across him, held at the lower end with both hands and blowing into the other end. The one behind him plays a short flute. The last of the five is a chanter, who holds his left hand to his ear as he creates an accompanying song. Finally, at the right-hand end of the register, and with no accompanying descriptive text, advances a man who holds a small calf in his arms, and a second man who carries a chest on his shoulder supported by his right hand. The head of the last man is partially destroyed.
Register 2
Again, beginning at the left, a man, with one knee on the ground, drinks from a vessel which he holds with both hands, whilst his friend behind him advances holding a prepared duck in his right hand and a conical bread in the other. Next are four dancing women in short skirts, their heads are turned to the right, their right arms raised above their heads, left hands placed on their hips and the left legs kicking to the rear. Three more dancers follow with the right arm raised and the left on the hip. Finally, three women in tight-fitting ankle-length dresses clap their hands in front of them, probably keeping time (see photo to the right).
Register 3
This register constitutes the first part of the fourth (see ). It shows, on the left, a shelter or pavilion for Meresankh or her guests. This is now almost lost through damage, although still preserved is a post terminating in a lotus-form capital. Towards this, four servants bring birds and round and conical breads. These, as well as jars, are stocked on the right, where three servants (two men and a woman) prepare more items and stack them in baskets, in order for them to be carried away (see ). At the right-hand end of the register are three groups of objects, one above the other: four conical loaves at the top, then four vessels containing conical loaves and at the bottom are six jars. Similar stacks of items are found at the beginning of the register below, where in fact they are being produced.
Register 4
The left end of this register is lost. It was dedicated to the preparation of beer and bread, two activities which always seem to occur together. On the left is a man, whose body is turned towards the right, although his head is turned the other way, as if he is in conversation with someone now missing.
In front of him are two rows of beer vessels. To the right of these is a man who is pouring almost certainly beer into one of them. Behind, a woman is leaning on a large vat, either mixing the mash for brewing the beer or else kneading dough required for the bread making which is occuring behind her. Nowhere have the Egyptians left a complete illustration of beer manufacture, which is never included completely. One of the most complete representations is in .
Next is a man turned towards the right who speaks to the character who is kneeling in front of a slab, kneading the dough. The text spoken to him is between him and the right hand of the standing character, who says: "I am relying on you"
, probably indicating that without him nothing will be made. Above him, in a sub-register, another man squats and also kneads dough, whilst above him is a pile of unbaked loaves. Flour is provided by two characters in another top sub-register, to the right: the woman on the right grinds the grain and her workmate sifts the flour (see ). The text between them is difficult, but H. G. Fischer reads it as "Don’t let it slip away".
Between the two sub-registers kneels a man with his head turned towards the rear, shouting at those who are behind him: "More quickly! This is hot!"
, possibly truly aimed at the lower man, whose back he touches with his oustretched hand. In front of him is a pile of dough rolls waiting to be put in the conical moulds which have been heated previously on the fire supervised by the woman who is crouched down at the extreme right.
East wall
By looking at the , it can be seen that it is of an irregular shape, with the northern section of the wall being displaced westward from the opening area from the main chamber. At the centre is the west facing surface of the pillar, which separates the two entries, and a small 15cm section against the south wall, which contains no decoration.
A - Between the north-east corner and the northern entry from the main chamber
This area includes two west facing areas, the northern most being 1.27m in length, the other being 1.10m and a south facing central section (at right-angles to these two) is 0.5m (see , showing the two latter faces). All three faces were plastered, the northern section (see image to the left) was partially decorated, but this decoration is almost invisible today and appears to have been only drawn in draft. Separated into three registers, it represented a harvesting scene, with all of the figures facing right.
The top register
had two men carrying between them a large bag on a pole, followed by two more who were similarly occupied.
The middle register
had, on the right, a stack of possibly grain, whilst to the left were three characters winnowing.
The bottom register
had a stack of grain, then, to the left was a man scooping grain into a container. There seemed to have been two more characters to the left, very faint and only sketched.
B - The central pillar of the double doorway
(See ) This surface, which faces into the offering chamber, measures 0.85m in width. According to Reisner, this was decorated after the death of Khemetnu the elder.
On the left, facing right, is the standing figure of Meresankh. She is clothed in her usual tight-fitting dress with shoulder straps. She has a tripartite wig and wears a neck choker, a large necklace, anklets, but no bracelets. Her right hand hangs at her side, whilst the left encloses a stem of a lotus flower, which is looped around it. The open blossom is held in front of her nostrils. She is identified in the five columns of text above her, as: "The beholder of Horus and Seth, the great favourite, the king’s daughter of his body, the companion of Horus, the king’s wife beloved by him, Meresankh".
In front and facing her, is a smaller image of a man. His hair is close cut (or he wears a skull-cap), his overlapping kilt extends from his waist to just below his knees. He presents a papyrus or a tablet to the queen. The three columns of inscription above him states: "Inspector of what is written. The steward, overseer of ka-priests, possessor of reverence (when) in front of his master every day. The scribe, Khemetnu the Younger".
This scene reproduces the one of the south wall south of the entry (see ), but with the two characters facing in the opposite direction.
West wall
The wall is approximately 5.4m wide and 2.3m in height. At the centre of the wall is a recessed false door. On either side is a niche (of approximately the same dimensions as the recess of the false door) each containing two standing rock-cut female images of Meresankh and her mother Hetepheres. These are flanked at the ends of the wall with a decoration of a palace facade.
An architrave, which contains an inscription, is located centrally at the top of the wall.
A - The architrave
(See ) This extends between the top of the two palace facades, located at the extreme ends of the wall, above the two statue niches and the false door. The inscription is in two lines, damaged, but still remaining legible. The lines read from left to right. Starting at the top line: "A offering which the king gives, and Anubis, lord of the sacred land, foremost of the divine booth, that she may be buried well in the western necropolis. May she proceed in peace to the cemetery as a possessor of reverence before the great god, lord of the burial. May offerings be presented to her of bread, beer and cakes, in this her tomb (and) in Busiris (and) in Abydos,
(bottom line) and in every place, in which there may be made a funerary invocation for a noblewoman, at the [opening] of the year, the first of the year, the feast of Thoth, the wag-festival, the feastival of Sokaris, the great festival, the Rokeh festival, at the time of the procession of Min, the month of the festival of Sadj, on the first of the month, the first of the half-month. The king's daughter of his body, the beholder of Horus and Seth, the king's wife, Mersyankh.".
The importance which begins to set Osiris as the god of the dead can be seen, since he is made reference to in his two main places of worship, Buto in the Delta and Abydos in Middle Egypt. This influence will continue by growing in the following dynasty.
B - The central false door
(See , and ) This is located in a recessed area 0.85m wide and 1.8m in height, at the centre of the wall. It was not completed and what remains is very damaged. Two doorposts frame the further recessed entry, at the top of which is the usual roller, but without any text. Above is a lintel with an almost illegible line of text, possibly stating: "The king's daughter, of his body, the beholder of Horus and Seth, Meresankh"
. Above this is a large rectangular area, almost certainly containing an image of the queen seated, facing right, in front of a table of offerings. The scene is greatly damaged, so any real detail is uncertain.
C - The two statue niches
(See and ) Each niche measures 0.95m in width, by 1.8m in height and a depth of 0.2m, and separated from the false door by a 0.15m thickness of wall. They contain, directly cut from the rock, the statues of two women of a different age, Hetepheres and Meresankh. Both have heavy looking wigs as well as a long tight-fitting dress. In the left niche they hold each other, one around the waist, the other on the shoulder (see ). In the one on the right, they hold each other's hand (see ). No details are now visible, or perhaps they were never finished.
D - The palace facades
(See and ) At the far side of the statue niches, in the space which extends to the north and south walls, is the image of a palace facade, decorated in low relief with no inscription. These images extend to the full height of the wall.
THE BURIAL CHAMBER
The shaft descent
(See and .) The shaft, which descends to the burial chamber, is located in the centre of the west chamber, in front of the false door (see and ). It is approximately 2.08m square and descends 5.13m to the burial chamber. In modern times, a staircase was installed, rotating several times (anticlockwise) through 90 degrees (see ).
The actual burial chamber
(See , , , and ) The burial chamber is situated to the west of the shaft and entered through a short passageway, 1.7m wide and 2.0m long, the north wall of which is almost an extension of that of the shaft. The passageway enters the chamber at the south end of the east wall. The floor of both the passage and the chamber is 0.32m lower than that of the base of the shaft. The chamber is 1.97m. in height (this is the same as the passageway), 5.70m long and its width varies from 2.97 to 3.30m. The chamber's central axis is not true north-south, but slightly rotated clockwise. Both the passage and the chamber are totally uninscribed.
The sarcophagus was positioned close to the west wall, its lid raised by the pillagers, who had supported it with two large stones (see ). It contained the skull and some bones of the queen, which permitted her age of the death to be estimated as about 50 years, and her height to be about 1.54m. The skull was very broad and flat-topped, also very lengthened towards the back. It will be necessary to wait for the Amarnian period to see heads as stretched in representations.
Against the south wall had been dug a pit, for the concealment of the canopic vases, measuring about 70 cm. square and 48 cm. deep (see , where even one of the vases lies on the floor next to it). These vessels were for containing the deceased's viscera.
The sarcophagus (JE 54935)
(See and ) This now located in the Cairo Museum. It measures 2.16 x 0.87 x 0.80m in height, with a 0.18m thick lid. This beautiful sarcophagus was made of black granite. Both of the sides and the end were decorated with a palace facade panels, with six panels on each long face and three on each of the ends; the south end panelling had only been partially executed.
Some inscriptions exist:
At the top of each of the long sides is written: "The beholder of Horus and Seth, the great favourite, the great of praise, the one who controls the butchers of the house of the acacia, the priestess of Bapefy, the consort of he who is beloved of the Two Mistresses, the king’s beloved daughter of his body, Hetepheres".
Across the top of the north end: "The one who is intimate with Horus, the companion of Horus, the priestess of Tjasep, the king's daughter, Hetepheres"
. Nothing can be found about this god "Tjasep".
Across the top of the south end: "The priestess of Thoth, the follower of Horus, the king’s wife, his beloved, the king’s daughter, Hetepheres".
The sarcophagus had thus been created for the mother of Meresankh, Hetepheres II, but down the ends of both sides had been added: "I have given (it) to the king’s daughter and wife, Meresankh".
The lid was neither inscribed nor decorated.
The canopic vessels of Meresankh are the oldest known to this day
When first the chamber was entered, one of the four (together with the slightly rounded lids of two of them) was visible on the floor (see ). They all have different diameters, non-inscribed, with slightly rounded lids. They are currently preserved in the Museum of Fine Craftsmanships of Boston (see ).
STATUES
Besides those present in the chapel, which had been carved directly from the rock, the excavators discovered fragments of small statues or statuary groups in the rubble in the small courtyard at front of the mastaba chapel. Two are described below.
The statue group 30.1456 of the Boston Museum
This statue, in painted limestone, was probably in the serdab which is on the south side of the courtyard. It represents queen Hetepheres passing her left arm lovingly behind the neck of her daughter, Meresankh. Their identification is written on the base between the two pairs of feet.
Inscription of Hetepheres: "The beholder of Horus and Seth, the consort of he who is beloved of the Two Mistresses".
Inscription of Meresankh: "His daughter, the king's wife, whom he loves".
Only these inscriptions identify the two women as queens. The wig and dress of Hetepheres doesn't have anything specifically royal. Meresankh doesn't wear a wig.
The head 30.1457b and the bottom part of the body 30.1457a
(See and .) Besides the beautiful finish of the head of Meresankh, the base is important because of the text which has survived on the dorsal pillar, confirming that Nebemakhet was her son: "It is her eldest son, the king's son, of his body, Nebemakhet, who (had it) made for her"
. The protrusion of the garment in front of the legs suggests a coat, which is a reminder of the pointed shoulders of Hetepheres in the tomb. Without almost no exception, only the queens of this period wear a coat in the sculptures.