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 GENERAL LAYOUT 

The mastaba/chapel of Watetkhethor consists of five chambers, a burial shaft and burial chamber. Chamber B2 is actually a stairway to the roof, for access to the shaft of the burial chamber, whilst B4 is the serdab. Chambers B1 (west half only), B3 and B5 were decorated, the walls of the remainder were left blank. All decorated walls, with the exception of parts of the west wall of the large alcove in B5 (which was incised), were in shallow raised relief and painted. The side walls of the passages from Mereruka's chamber A1 into Watetkhethor's chamber B1, B1 to B2, and B3 to B5 were also decorated.

The internal height of the ceiling is currently just over 4 metres. The decoration of the walls has not survived to full height, the best being the west wall of B5, where it reaches to almost 3.3 metres. The quality of decoration varies, with the best quality being on the north and west walls of chamber B5; chamber B3 being of a lower quality.
The amount of colour applied to the sculpted relief of the walls varies, most having faded. The best preserved are in chambers B3 and B5 (see B5 west wall, south), having retained some of the grey background colour, red-brown of the porters bodies and black colour of the hair along with some of the other darker colours.
The original painted dado area, as found in the chambers of Mereruka, was also present here to approximately 1 metre in height. It consisted of a black lower area separated from the scenes above by two coloured broad bands, red (above) and yellow, edged with black lines. However, in many cases these colours have been worn away or have faded by time. The black colour of the lower area has been reduced to virtually nothing, though the faded upper red and yellow bands can still be seen in many places, even traces of the original black lower area still exist.

The original limestone paving of the floor is preserved throughout Watetkhethor's chambers.

The burial chamber and the sarcophagus were left undecorated.

 ENTRANCE TO CHAMBER B1 

The entrance to the first chamber of Watetkhethor's chapel is located at the north end of the west wall of Mereruka's chamber A1. The actual passageway, at the B1 chamber end, measures 0.75m wide, with a height of approx. 2.2m; the north wall being 0.75m in depth and the south being 0.70m. This passageway was designed to take a door at the A1 end, and as such is extended and widened. This door section is 0.24m deep, extended by a width of 0.15m on the north and 0.20m on the south. There is no indication on either side, in either the floor or ceiling, of a hole being cut to take the door pivot. However, circular holes exist on both side walls approx 0.75m above the floor. These were presumably intended for door bolts.

The northern outer (chamber A1 side) wall contains a small left-hand section of the northern wall of Mereruka's first chamber. The main thickness walls are decorated in three registers, above the usual dado area with the two colour bands. Colours are now virtually non-existant. The northern decoration has survived to almost its full height, although it does have some damage towards the middle left. The major upper part of the top register is missing from the south thickness wall (view detail). Both walls are almost identical, with the participants facing into Watetkhethor's first chamber.
The top and bottom registers each have three men carrying items of food, drink, live birds and flowers. They all wear short, tight-fitting kilts. The two men of the middle registers, who accompany a large ox, wear a looser fitting short kilt. On both walls the text above the ox identifies as a "young ox". In much smaller hieroglyphs, names are given in front of some of the participants. On the north wall: before the last man of the top register it is uncertain; last man, middle register is 'Hefai'; first man, bottom register is 'Nesuptah'. On the south wall, middle register, the men are 'Meri' and 'Hefai'. In bottom register of the south wall the first is identified as 'the ka-servant , the lector priest, Hepi'; his addition text is uncertain. The name of the second is uncertain and it is written behind him. However, the last is named 'Bekhen'.

 CHAMBER B1 

This chamber measures 6.30m north-south and 5.70m east-west. The east wall does however extend 0.50m into the entry of the stairway to the roof (classified as chamber B2), and access to the burial chamber shaft. This stairway is located at the eastern end of the north wall (view entry).

The entry to this, the first of Watetkhethor's chambers, from Mereruka's chamber A1, is located towards the southern end of the east wall. In addition to the entry to the stairway just mentioned, there is another exit from the chamber. This is located at the southern end of the west wall and gives access to chamber B3 and beyond. All the doorways are of a similar height, being about 2.2m.

Two restored pillars, of 0.8m square section, are located along the north-south axis, but situated west of centre, leaving about 3.0m clear to the east. This divides the chamber into two unequal areas. It has been postulated that originally only the western area was roofed, leaving the eastern side as an open courtyard in front of which would therefore have been a pillared portico. Evidence to support this theory is that the eastern wall and the eastern ends of the north and south walls were left undecorated. This would mean that the stairs to the roof would have been accessed from the internal courtyard.

  With the description of the three main chambers, sketches (as below) are provided in order to see the overall surviving content of the walls, their general content and connectivity with the adjoining chambers. The bottom area (of approx. 1 metre high) is left blank, but this originally (like the walls of Mereruka's chambers) contained two colour bands (red then yellow) running along the top of the lower black dado area (see example on the west wall of chamber B1 below).
Clicking on areas within the sketch views will, where possible, provide a colour photograph of that part of the wall; note: photos are not available for all sections. A more detailed version of the line drawing can be obtained by clicking the green rectangle in the dado area.
 
 

The walls of chamber B1

The east wall :
Although this wall is totally undecorated, the original stonework has survived up to a height of approx. 1.6m. There isn't even a sign of the dado area having been painted (see opposite), even though traces of the red band can still be seen in the entry.

Towards its southern end is the entry to the chamber, and the whole of Watetkhethor's portion of the mastaba.
The northern end forms part of the recess side wall of the entry to the stairway leading to the roof (see north-east corner view).

The south wall : (line drawing)
The wall is undecorated on its eastern side, as explained previously. The decorated section has survived to a height of aprox. 2.4m, at its western end. If this wall was ever painted, none now appears to have survived, other than the colour bands of the dado area.

At the far right, standing with her back to the west wall and the entry to chamber 3 and facing the entry to her chambers, is Watetkhethor. She is wearing a tight fitting dress and is adorned with both bracelets and anklets. Because the upper part of her body, from just above the waist, is missing, it is now impossible to know her hair style and head-wear. Her left hand hangs empty at her side, but she probably held a lotus flower to her nose with her right hand.

Standing in front of her, and at a much smaller scale, is her son. From the two columns of text above him he can be identified as 'her eldest son, her beloved, Meryteti, his beautiful name, Meri'. He is shown as a naked child with his hair in the form of the sidelock of youth, at the end of which is a disc. Around his neck he wears a pendant, in his right hand he holds a hoopee bird and in the other he holds a lotus flower.

In front of them, and separated by a column of hieroglyphic text (the top of which is now missing) are several registers showing the transportation of offerings towards them. What remains of the text states: 'from her estates and her towns of the Delta and the South, so that invocation offerings may come to her from there'. Only the bottom two registers and part of a third have survived.
The offering bearers, seven in each register, carry a wide variety of food and drink, either directly in the hands (sometimes in baskets), over their arms or held aloft on their shoulder on trays. These include bread, fruit and vegetables, cuts of meat, birds, lotus flowers and jars. Scratched in front of two men is the name 'Mery' and in one case the addition of 'ka-servant'.

The west wall : (line drawing)
The majority of this wall has survived to a height of approx. 2.4m, although at its northern end it is only about 1.5m high. The wall has retained some of its colour. At the very southern end is the entrance to chamber B3.

As on the previous wall, the tomb owner stands at the right-hand end, facing left. Her image isn't as tall as on the south wall, but again it has only survived to just above her waist.
This time she is accompanied by her son (standing in front) and her daughter Ibnebu (behind) (see line drawing). Watetkhethor and Meryteti are portrayed as on the south wall, even the text for Meri is the same. The daughter wears a long, tight fitting dress with two shoulder straps and has a broad necklace around her neck. Her hair, like that of her brother, is worn in a plait ending with a disc. She holds nothing in her hands, the left one hangs down at her side, whilst the right is positioned across her chest. Ibnebu is described in the text above her as 'her daughter, her beloved, of her body, Ibnebu'. This is the only representation of a daughter in the chambers of either Watetkhethor or her husband. Mereruka frequently depicts his wife and his mother, and it seems strange that he would have deliberately omitted representing any children from his union with Watetkhethor. It may be possible that Ibnebu was born after Mereruka's death, or that she was born after the completion of his chambers.

Behind the family group are the remains of four registers (see line drawing); only the bottom register is complete. From what has survived, they all portray (or did), female figures. Some of the women carry vessels, presumably containing provisions, while the four women in the bottom register are holding a carrying chair supported on poles, possibly used to bring Watetkhethor to this location to watch the accompanying activities. On the side of the chair is a lion. The signifancance of this will be discussed further, when it reappears again on the north wall of chamber B5.

Preserved in front of the family group are three complete registers and the lower part of a fourth. They all show activities which take place in the marshland. On all of the registers can be seen a wide variety of vegetation. The incomplete column of text separating the scenes from the group is almost identical to that of the south wall.

The bottom register shows a very large net being hauled ashore by twenty-eight men. At their centre stands the supervisor, leaning on his staff of office and unlike the others, he wears a projecting kilt. He divides the men into two equal groups of fourteen. The artist has provided not only a variety of positions for the fishermen, but also an amazing variety of identifiable fish. The name 'Meri' has been scratched in front of four men, and in two cases it is preceded by the title ''ka-servant'. These have also been scratched in the registers above.
The size of the net is unusual, but one of a similar size can be seen in two chambers of Mereruka's part of the mastaba. The largest, with twenty-three men can be found in chamber A6, the other, with only eighteen men is in chamber A4. Watetkhethor accompanies her husband in both of these scenes.

The second register consists of five reed boats each with five standing occupants. The three boats on the left face left as if moving towards the entry to chamber B3. The two other boats face right, towards Watetkhethor. Each boat has is powered by two men at the stern with long punting poles; the exception being the second boat from left, which only has one man. Unlike the passengers, the punters are either naked or wearing only a loin-cloth, whilst most of the other men wear the projecting kilts usually associated with overseers. These passengers are carrying various gifts, including birds, flowers, vegetables, jars, a calf, and a variety of fish. The water under the boats is full of lotus flowers.

The third register portrays five scenes with bovine livestock. These scenes are described from right to left:
• A small man kneels and milks a cow, he is helped by a larger man who holds with one hand the rope which tethers the hind legs of the animal and holds a small vessel in the other. The text above the scene states: 'drawing milk'.
• This is followed by a mating scene of a bull and a cow.
• Next is that of a cow giving birth (see image), helped by a farm-hand supervised by two overseers, their status indicated by the long staffs which they hold. The accompanying text gives the instruction offered by the overseer to the herdsman:'deliver effectively, oh this herdsman, (it) is painful for her!'.
• The last two scenes show two groups; the first with three men and the second of nine, trying to control two bulls. As with the reed boats below, these last two groups face in the direction of the doorway to chamber B3. It should be noted that on the south wall of chamber B3, next to the entrance, are the scenes of slaughtering of cattle.

Of the fourth register, only the bottom part has survived, and although its full nature is uncertain, it involved birds and the marshland. From the direction in which men's feet face, it may be of men transporting birds from a fowling scene, in the direction of the doorway to chamber B3.

The north wall : (line drawing)
The wall is undecorated on its eastern side, as explained previously. The majority of this wall has survived to a height of about 2m, but reduces to about 1.6m just before the stairs entry to the roof. The wall has retained some of its colour, very obvious are the two colour bands separating the imagery from the lower dado area.

The decoration of this wall is an almost mirror image of that on the south wall, but this time almost the whole of the third register has survived and a small part of a fourth. The images of Watetkhethor and her son are almost the same, so also is the text which identifies him and the one describing the scenes to their right. The major difference with Meryteti is that this time he holds a different bird (not the hoopoe), possibly a dove.

Again, in each of the registers, seven men walk towards the couple, although only the feet of the leftmost three can be seen in the remains of the upper register. Each offering bearer carries gifts of food and drink. Also, as on the south wall, some of the men names (and in one case a title) have been scratched in hieroglyphs in front of them: 'the ka-servant, Mery' and 'In-im(?)'. A vertical line delineates the eastern end of the registers, separating them from the undecorated section of the wall.

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