Although this chamber was left undecorated, the small entrance passageway (also undecorated) was still designed to take a average sized door, which would have opened inwards into the C2. The actual passage is 0.62m wide, 0.54m deep and 1.55m high and at the door end it widens to 1.10m width, a further 0.22m deep and 2.25m high. The upper pivot hole still survives at the southern end of the ceiling. Both ceilings areas were again painted to resemble red granite and the colour has survived. The chamber, which measures 2.37m north-south and 2.05m east-west, was probably intended to be used as a storeroom.
Both passage thicknesses were decorated in relief. The east thickness is very damaged (see 'From C3 to C1' image opposite) but the west side has survived with only a small amount of damage. Again the thicknesses were originally decorated as mirror images. The surviving west side is divided into four registers, each with three men bearing offerings into C3. They bring live birds and animals, bags of food; whilst at head height they hold trays laden with loaves, various joints of meat and small vessels. There is no accompanying text.
The entry from C1 is at the eastern end of the south wall. The exit to C4 is located directly opposite, on the north wall. The false door, in striking difference to all the other walls of the chapel, retains much of its original red colour (see west wall view). From visiting the similar chamber of Meryteti's father (A11) it could easily have been assumed that the shaft to the deceased burial chamber would have been located here. However, this was accessed from the roof, to the west of chamber C4.
The east wall : Surviving to about two-thirds its original height, the wall now shows five registers. It is sub-divided into three themes: The two lower registers are dedicated to the butchery of oxen. The only text within the scenes is at the beginning of the second row, where, from right to left, the conversation recorded says: "Sharpen this knife, quickly", "I shall do as you wish, comrade","Do it with great joy" (see line drawing). The title above and to the right of the bottom register begins: "The offering table is like a beautiful feast today, bring the choice things …"; whilst that of the second register begins: "Hurry up comrades, the lector priest is performing the ceremony, bring these choice things, hurry up, for your life …". How strange it is that with 34 butchers working on 13 animals, only one man can be seen carrying away a single leg joint. he is located behind the two holding conversation. The next two registers are devoted to a total of 27 men leading calves, gazelles, antelopes and carrying various foods in baskets, in vases or on plates. They progress towards the left-hand side of the wall. Above the lower of the two registers can be read a long list of the items, in thousands; and which, as it also states, are for Meryteti. There is no descriptive text above the upper register. The upper area, of which only part remains, depicts piles of offerings. Only two registers now survive, but there would certainly have been room for more; four exist on the south wall, below the kheker frieze. The south wall : (line drawing) The south and north walls have been decorated to the same design, although there are small differences; they can be considered as a continuation of the east wall, which included the preparation of the meat offerings. This south wall has, however, survived far better than that opposite, of which the upper half of the decorated area is lost. At the western end of the wall, Meryteti is seated in front of the symbolic table stacked with long breads. Under and in front of this are enormous piles of food and drink. His titles are enumerated above him in eight columns, ending with "the King's son, Meryteti". He wears a shoulder-length wig, a broad necklace, bracelets and a half-pleated kilt. His chair has a cushioned back-support but no arm rests, the legs end in the usual lion's feet. His right hand stretches out towards the table. In his left hand, which he rests in his lap, he holds a piece of folded cloth. Above and below this hand are two small inscriptions: "requirements of the Htpt-offerings and Hnk-offerings" (above) and "1000 bread, 1000 beer, 1000 cakes, 1000 oxen, 1000 fowl 1000 alabaster and 1000 clothes" (below). The general list of 3 rows of 33 offerings each is reproduced above the table and the piles of food (see line drawing). The upper part of the wall, beyond the tabular list, continues with four registers of piled offerings. The lower part of the wall is divided into four registers, in which are long lines of offering bearers. The bottom register is the longest of the four. It has the title, which starts vertically at the front of the men, then horizontally, and finally vertically at the end of the register (this form also applies to the other registers, but without the leading vertical text). The text reads: "Bringing the choice things, the gifts and all good year-offerings which are brought for him from his estates and from his towns of the Delta and the South as invocation offerings for him there every day, at every feast, at the opening of the year feast, at the Thoth feast, at the first of the year feast, at the Wag-feast, at the sokar feast, at the great feast, at the feast of burning, to the extent of eternity for the hereditary prince, the count, the chief lector priest, the sem-priest, the gracious of arm, the honoured one before Osiris, the inspector of the priests of the pyramid of Pepy (I), the king's son, Meryteti.". In total there are 31 offering bearers in this long bottom register, only the first ten of which are named. It should be noted these rows of men (bearing offerings) are frequently, wrongly, referred to as porters; they are often led by a member of the family (usually the eldest son) and may also include friends and colleagues. The first five individuals carry ox thighs; the next five hold geese. The first man, on the right, is: "The lector priest, Ihy". He is also the first named on the north wall and he is probably Meryteti's son. The remaining 21 carry items of food, drink, live birds and even flowers, four of them lead small animals, which in order are : a gazelle, a calf, a Nubian ibex and another gazelle. The second register has a somewhat different title structure: "An offering which the king gives and an offering which Osiris gives, 1000 r-geese, 1000 Trp-geese, 1000 zt-ducks, 1000 s-geese for the hereditary prince, Meri, his eldest son of his body, his beloved, the honoured one before the great god, the inspector of priests of the pyramid of Pepy (I), the king's son, the count, Meryteti.". The register contains only 10 offering bearers. The first one is named: "His son, the scribe of the God's Books of the Palace, Niankhmin"; the last man is designated, "The judicial scribe, Meri" (see detail). On the north wall only the first is named. The third register has the title: "Bringing the gifts and all good year-offerings which are brought for him from his estates and from his towns of the Delta and the South as invocation offerings for the hereditary prince, Meri, his son of his body, his beloved, the honoured one, the inspector of priests of the pyramid of Pepy (I), the king's son, the count, Meryteti". None of the 13 offering bearers are named. The fourth register has no general title text, although there is some descriptive text associated with some of the participants. From this text it is apparent that even though not all are titled as such, all are "lector priests"  . The first priest (on the right) represents the purification of the foods in front of him, the same ritual which can be observed in chamber B5 which belongs to Watetkhethor. He is followed by another priest with a censer; a man kneels behind him with his hands placed a small table; two priests follow, the last one reads a list from a scroll, the text of which is displayed before the kneeling man. Next three other lector priests kneel and present the sign of exaltation; behind them another drags a broom (resembling the tail of an ox) in the opposite direction whilst looking backwards towards Meryteti. Another individual kneels before a small table. Finally at the end, two lector priests read from scrolls, their list is again in front of the kneeling man; between them, a man pours water which is received in a vessel held by a man kneeling on the floor. The words above the middle two say: "giving libation". The inscription above states: "An offering which the king gives and a gesture of offering: half-loaves, sweet things, beer, oxen, fowl" etc.
The north wall : (line drawing) As previously mention, this wall was originally an almost mirror image of the south wall. At its eastern end is the entry to chamber C4. A large upper central portion is missing. Fortunately, Meryteti has survived to his full height, seated at the western end. Above the C4 entry remains part of two upper registers still showing the piles of offerings. The image of Meryteti lacks some of the detail seen in the one opposite, but fundamentally they are the same. he is seated in front of his table of food. His right hand again stretches out towards the table, although not beyond his knees this time. In his left hand, which he this time holds to his chest, he again holds a piece of folded cloth. The same two inscriptions are in front of him. Only the ends of the columns giving the titles and name of Meryteti have survived, but there are obvious changes in the titles recorded. The four registers have an almost identical composition to those of the south wall: The bottom register, which this time has 28 offering bearers of which only the first 9 are named, is again lead by "The lector priest, Ihy". The descriptive text is identical to the south wall. The second register, this time has 11 men; only the first one is named; he is: "The under supervisor of the palace, Webenu". The text is similar to the south wall, except that after the 1000 s-geese, it continues: "1000 pigeons for the hereditary prince, the count, the sem-priest, the director of every kilt,the scribe of the god's book, the honoured one before the great god, the inspector of priests of the pyramid of Pepy (I), Meryteti". The third register, has 14 offering bearers, again none are named and the descriptive text is again identical with the south wall. The fourth register has lost most of its upper half. There are the same number of men portrayed here and all appear to be in the same order as before. The west wall : (line drawing) The west wall is mainly a magnificent monolithic stela in Turah limestone, painted in imitation of granite. On either side is a narrow band (0.125m wide) with seven superimposed registers, each containing incised representations of a vessel. These contain the traditional seven sacred oils; each have identifying text. The left-hand side has survived better than that of the right. The false door, which is 2.05m wide by 3.12m high, rests on a 0.37m high stone platform. Located centrally in front of this is a stone offering table 1.36m wide, 0.55m deep and the same height as the platform. The door is decorated with a surrounding moulding and has a cavetto cournice at the top. All inscriptions are in incised relief. The general design of the door itself is that of a horizontal upper lintel supported by two jambs on either side. The inner section thus formed, provides a tableau panel at the top, under which is an inner door with its own (inner) lintel supported by its own jambs, one on either side of the false entry opening. The three pairs of jambs are inset from each other. All have, at the bottom, a standing image of the tomb owner, Meryteti, facing towards the centre false entry. There are alterations to the name inscriptions on the door. The upper lintel has four horizontal lines of hieroglyphic text, reading from right to left. The top three are of the form "An offering which the king gives …, but they each have very interesting content. • The top one: "An offering which the king gives and an offering which Anubis, foremost of the divine booth, who is in the embalming place, who is on his hill, lord of the sacred land gives, that he be buried in the necropolis, in the western desert, as an honoured one before the king." • The second: "An offering which the king gives and an offering which Osiris, foremost of Busiris gives, that he may travel upon the beautiful roads, upon which the honoured ones travel, at a very old age." • The third: "An offering which the king gives and an offering which the great god, lord of the West, gives, that invocation offerings come forth for him on every feast and in the course of everyday, as an honoured before the king and before the great god." The fourth line carries some of the titles of Meryteti. A short vertical text, at the left-hand end, directly in front of the standing figure of the tomb owner, states: "the king's son, the count, Meryteti.". He stands with his staff of office in his left hand and a sceptre in the other. The tableau panel shows Meryteti sitting in front of an offering table laden with 18 tall loaves of bread. Beneath the table is first a list stating: "1000 bread, 1000 beer, 1000 cakes, 1000 fowl", then at the other side of the support is a box container with several vessels. The text above the table states, after some of Meryteti's titles and names: "1000 r-geese, 1000 Trp-geese, 1000 zt-ducks, 1000 s-geese, 1000 pigeons". The cylindrical drum, usually situated below the tableau, between the two inner jambs, does not have an inscription; it normally bears the name of the tomb owner. The inner lintel contains three lines of text, read from right to left. They contain some of Meryteti's titles and both of his names. The three jambs of each side are mirror images. The outer jambs contain three columns of text, to be read starting with the one nearest to the centre of the door. They each contain a list of his titles, the outer two ending with his name. The middle jambs again contain three columns of text, again to be read starting with the one nearest to the centre of the door. They each contain a further list of his titles. This time all three end with his name. The inner jambs are the shorter ones, supporting the inner lintel. These contain two columns of text, again to be read starting with the one nearest to the centre of the door. This time they contain a shorter list of his titles, both ending with his name. His title of "Inspector of priests and guards of the pyramid of king Teti", which is included here, had to be especially important because it is this which is represented on the column closer to the entry.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}