Lisht - Mastaba of Senwosret-ankh

The most interesting of the tombs of high officials which surround the pyramid of Sesostris is the Mastaba of Senwosret-ankh, High Priest of Ptah in Memphis as well as the Royal Sculptor and Architect and thus the highest dignitary in the realm. The size and appointments of the tomb match the importance of its owner. It was surrounded by a double enclosure wall, an outer brick wall enclosing an area 305ft/93m long by 165ft/50m wide and an inner wall built of massive blocks of Tura limestone.

On the east side of the mastaba was a chapel, on the north side the entrance, from which a narrow passage descended steeply to the rockcut tomb chamber. The walls of the chamber are covered with hieroglyphic texts, in the manner of the rock tombs and pyramids of the Old Kingdom. On the east side is a cavity in the floor for the sarcophagus, originally covered by four stone slabs with slightly rounded upper surfaces; on the south side is a smaller cavity for the canopic chest.

Also of interest are the mastabas of Imhotep, High Priest of Heliopolis, and the Majordomo Sehetepobre-ankh.