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Tomb of Mereruka

Mereruka, standing at the north end facing south, is accompanied by the smaller scale figure of his wife, who stands in front of him with a lotus blossom at her nose. Except for his head being missing, this figure of Mereruka has survived intact. He wears a leopard skin, which hangs over his triangular kilt. He holds his staff of office in his left hand and a sceptre in his right. The couple are attended by pairs of officials, five and a half registers of which still survive. In front of Mereruka and his wife (whose title and names have survived), separated from them by a column of text, the wall is subdivided into several registers showing many craftsmen busy in their various crafts . The column of text states :  "… for his tomb of the beautiful West, in peace, in peace."  (then possibly)  "How happy she is in respect of it." . The texts in the registers include the words spoken by the craftsmen or a short description. The bottom two registers show metal workers . ...

Tomb of Mereruka

  Mereruka and his wife Watetkhethor (again of a similar height) In front of them, at a much small scale, is their son Meryteti     he wears the sidelock of youth and carries a lotus blossom in one hand and the other he holds a fowl by the wings. Behind the family group is what would have originally been several female servants, each on her own register  . Only the lowest female has fully survived and carries a chest on her shoulders. For a servant she is extremely well dressed; wearing a slim fitting dress with shoulder straps, a broad necklace and wrist adornments. The female above her wears ankle bracelets. There is no identifying text, but could they in fact be daughters ?

Tomb of Mereruka

  Mereruka is followed by his wife, who is displayed at a similar scale. In this chamber, it is only on this wall that he wears sandals on his feet. The couple face north, preceded by groups of three attendants, viewing the hunting scene which completes the larger part of this wall. Only the two lower registers have survived, but this is enough to see that it takes place within a fenced enclosure. On both of the registers dogs are shown attacking antelopes, but in the middle of the lower register a lion is shown attacking a bull  . A scattering of low vegetation can be seen. A narrow sub-register is inserted at top left of the bottom register, again containing vegetation, but among which are two partially hidden hedgehogs, a small antelope and a hare

Tomb of Mereruka

  Mereruka, in large size, . Standing in front of him, at a much small scale, is his wife with a lotus blossom to her nose. [Note: The term "lotus" which we use, for reasons of tradition and convenience,is botanically incorrect. It represents a water lily, and more precisely here its blue variety,  Nymphaea caerulea .  In front of them, each in a single register, are the lower two of several mortuary priests bringing offerings from his estates. Behind them, again each in a single register, are : his eldest beloved son Memi at the bottom and with Mereruka's brother Ihy above him. It would have been interesting to know who stood above these two

Tomb of Mereruka

  a tall figure of the owner and one of almost equal size of his wife  Their heads are missing, but they can be seen holding hands, a loving feature which reveals their closeness and is repeated more than once in the tomb, with subtle variations. The couple face north, heading with due ceremony towards the depths of the main chambers. They are preceded, on six sub-registers, by various servants and porters of a palanquin

Tomb of Mereruka

  marshes filled with wild life. Each side is set on a stretch of horizontal water teaming with a variety fish, large hippopotami and dangerous crocodiles, all drawn with no regard to scale, but with an anatomical precision leaving no doubt to the identity of the fish species. Of particular interest is the broad stretch of water (shown vertically) on the north wall . The lower registers of each wall still exists, but the imagery of Mereruka is more fully preserved on the south wall, showing his head and extended left arm ).  On both walls Mereruka is shown accompanied by his wife in a light papyrus skiff and in both cases they face towards the entrance to the inner chambers. On the north wall Mereruka is fishing with a harpoon. The characters of the accompanying sub-registers participate by hunting the hippopotamus, while other men carry fish in baskets (see opposite,  and . This wall contains the longest surviving list of Seshseshet's titles. However, even though the upp...

Tomb of Mereruka

  tall figure of Mereruka striding towards the interior of the tomb, accompanied by the much smaller figures of his wife Watetkhethor (behind him) and his eldest son Meryteti (in front). On either side of the central group are groups of three attendants placed above each other. Nine still exist in front but only six behind

Tomb of Mereruka

  Mereruka seated in front of an easel, with a brush in his right hand and a paint palette over his shoulder. He is painting the three seasons of the Egyptian year . They are shown in the form of three seated characters, each holding a cartouche enclosing four hieroglyphic crescent moons (the sign for "month") ; thus they symbolically represent the four months of each season. Starting at the end furthest from Mereruka, they are the seasons of : inundation (Akhet), accompanied by the hieroglyphic sign for "good" (nefer) ; germination (Peret), along with the sign for "offering" (hetep) ; finally, summer (Shemu), and the sign for "life" (ankh). The indication is of Mereruka looking out from his tomb, painting whilst viewing the annual cycle of Egyptian life. Forward of Mereruka, and in a smaller separate panel facing him, stands  "His son, lector-priest and scribe of the God's Book, Khenu" , his instruments in his hand.

The Pyramid of Amenemhet III at Dahshur

        Amenemhet III attempted to build his first pyramid at Dahshur, but it turned out to be a disaster. Even with the nearby Bent Pyramid as a reminder, Amenemhet III's architects built the his pyramid on unstable subsoil. The Bent Pyramid is built upon compacted gravel, while Amenemhet III's is built on hard clay. The builder's compounded this mistake by building the pyramid in one of the lowest locations of any pyramid in Egypt. It lies only 33 feet above sea level. Further problems arose from the shear number of corridors and chambers within the substructure, and the reliance that the builders placed on their ceilings which had no real stress relieving devices above the king's burial chamber. Early on ground water from the nearby Nile Valley seeped into the pyramid's substructure causing structural damage, causing menacing cracks to appear in the corridor and chamber walls soon after the pyramid was completed. Even before the limestone was a...

The Buried Pyramid of Sekhemkhet

    Almost everything we know about Sekhemkhet ("Powerful in Body"), we know because of his unfinished (Buried) pyramid at Saqqara, and it seems to give us little facts about his life. The only evidence outside of this tomb is a scene depicted at Wadi Maghara in the Sinai which bears his name. It is a military scene, classical in that it probably shows Sekhemkhet, with his raised mace, about to smite his desert enemies. This relief actually shows a procession of Sekhemkhets. In front of the smiting king, who is wearing the White Crown is a second depiction of the king wearing the Red Crown, and in front of him, another of Sekhemkhet back in the White Crown.           However, we are not really sure of much about this king. According to the Turin King-list, Djoser's immediate successor was identified by his personal name Djoser-Ti (Djoserty), and ruled for only six years. It now seems that most Egyptologists believe Djoser-Ti and Sek...

The Catacombs of Kom el-Shuqafa in Alexandria

  At the front of the tomb, there are two columns topped with Egyptian composite anta capitals . These columns support an architrave, above which the viewer will find a relief of a central winged sun disc flanked by Horus falcons. Above the central winged sun disc is a simple circle (also presumably a sun disc). The area behind the columns functions much like an antechamber, where the outer façade of the principal tomb can be found. The antechamber forms a rectangle: the Egyptian columns are parallel with the outer façade, with female and male statue niches on each side. The façade  functions as the entrance into the inner tomb. Above this entrance is another relief of a central winged sun disc. An agathodaemon (a benevolent spirit) in the form of a snake is carved on the left and right side of the entrance façade. Each snake wears the Double Crown of Egypt and is wrapped around a thyrsus and caduceus staff. A gorgoneion on a shield (reminiscent of Athena’s shield or aegi...