Saqqara - Mastaba of Ti 
Northeast of the Serapeum is one of the principal sights of Saqqara, the Mastaba of Ti, belonging to a high Court official and wealthy landowner of the early Fifth Dynasty. A tablet at the entrance records its discovery and excavation by Mariette and its restoration by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities. Its mural reliefs are among the finest and best preserved of the Old Kingdom as well as the most interesting in terms of subject matter.
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Mastaba of Ti Chapel Murals
Returning to the corridor from the side room, we now turn right through a door flanked by figures of Ti to enter the chapel, 16ft/5m wide, 23ft/7.20m long and 15ft/4.50m high, the roof of which is borne on two sturdy square pillars painted to resemble red granite. On the pillars are inscribed Ti's names and titles. The, mural reliefs in this chamber, with well preserved colors, repay detailed examination.
On the east side, to the left of the entrance, Ti (on the right), with his wife kneeling beside him, watches harvesting operations; in front of him are ten rows of harvest scenes (from top to bottom): the flax harvest; corn being cut with sickles, packed in sacks and loaded on donkeys, which take it to the threshing floor; oxen and donkeys treading out the corn; the threshed grain along with the chaff is piled in a great heap with three-pronged forks, then sifted and winnowed with two small boards; a woman fills a sack of corn.
To the right are two well preserved and several damaged shipbuilding scenes: shaping the tree trunks; sawing them into planks; construction of the ship, with workmen using adzes, mallets and crowbars and others fitting the planks together; Ti standing in one of the ships, inspecting the work. The simple tools used by the workmen (saw, axe, adze, drill) are of great interest.
There are numerous reliefs on the south side of the chapel (upper rows damaged). To the left, above, is a figure of Ti, below which is a narrow opening leading into a second serdab in which one intact and several broken statues of Ti were found. To right and left of the opening are two men offering incense to Ti. Ti and his wife watch their workmen, who are depicted in four rows (from top to bottom): men blowing through long tubes into a furnace in which gold is being smelted; sculptors and makers of stone vessels; carpenters polishing a door and a box (left), sawing planks, polishing a bedstead, under which lies a head rest, and working with drills; leather workers and a market scene (one man has two jars of oil for sale, another a wallet, for which he is being offered a pair of sandals in exchange); a stamp cutter making a stone seal; a man selling sticks. In the center, above, Ti, with his wife sitting at his feet, watches as peasants from his estates bring various animals (antelopes, gazelles, goats, deer, cattle, etc.) as funeral offerings; against each animal is inscribed its name. Below, in three rows: cattle are led in; three village elders are forcibly brought into the estate office to account for their taxes; bottom row, a variety of poultry (cranes, geese, pigeons, etc.). To the right, above, Ti seated at table, with servants bringing funeral offerings; below, servants with gifts and musicians (harpists and flute players); sacrificial animals slaughtered and cut up.
On the west side of the chapel are two large false doors marking the entrance to the Realm of the Dead. In front of the left hand one is a stone offering table. In the center of the wall: slaughtering of sacrificial animals and presentation of offerings (damaged); above, tables.
The reliefs on the north side of the chapel depict life in the marshes of the Delta. On the left (from top to bottom): Ti watching bird catchers and fishermen; a hut containing the birds and fish that have been caught; two men cutting up fish at a small table; (below) cattle grazing; a cow calving and another being milked, with an overseer leaning on his staff and a herdsman holding the calf to prevent it from running to its mother; (left) calves tethered to stakes try to break loose, while others graze peacefully; (right) herdsmen in small papyrus boats driving cattle across a river in which two crocodiles are lying; (left) two dwarfs with their master's pet monkey and grayhounds. In the center of the wall: Ti sailing through the marshes in a papyrus boat; in front of him another boat whose crew are hunting hippopotamuses with harpoons; a hippopotamus biting a crocodile; to the rear a small boat with a man who has hooked a catfish; birds nesting and fluttering about in the papyrus thicket. To the left: harvesting papyrus and building papyrus boats; boatmen quarrelling and fighting; fishing (a fisherman putting the fish he has caught in his fish trap into a basket); tilling the ground (one man plowing) with two oxen note the form of the plow while another spurs them on; another breaks up the clods, while another sows the seed, with a scribe looking on); rams are driven over the newly sown ground to tread in the seed, while to the right are men hoeing; cattle returning from pasturage in the Delta are driven through the water; in front a herdsman carrying a young calf on his shoulders.
A narrow strip running along the foot of the north wall depicts 36 peasant women bearing offerings of meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit and drink from Ti's various estates, the names of which are given.
On the east side, to the left of the entrance, Ti (on the right), with his wife kneeling beside him, watches harvesting operations; in front of him are ten rows of harvest scenes (from top to bottom): the flax harvest; corn being cut with sickles, packed in sacks and loaded on donkeys, which take it to the threshing floor; oxen and donkeys treading out the corn; the threshed grain along with the chaff is piled in a great heap with three-pronged forks, then sifted and winnowed with two small boards; a woman fills a sack of corn.
To the right are two well preserved and several damaged shipbuilding scenes: shaping the tree trunks; sawing them into planks; construction of the ship, with workmen using adzes, mallets and crowbars and others fitting the planks together; Ti standing in one of the ships, inspecting the work. The simple tools used by the workmen (saw, axe, adze, drill) are of great interest.
There are numerous reliefs on the south side of the chapel (upper rows damaged). To the left, above, is a figure of Ti, below which is a narrow opening leading into a second serdab in which one intact and several broken statues of Ti were found. To right and left of the opening are two men offering incense to Ti. Ti and his wife watch their workmen, who are depicted in four rows (from top to bottom): men blowing through long tubes into a furnace in which gold is being smelted; sculptors and makers of stone vessels; carpenters polishing a door and a box (left), sawing planks, polishing a bedstead, under which lies a head rest, and working with drills; leather workers and a market scene (one man has two jars of oil for sale, another a wallet, for which he is being offered a pair of sandals in exchange); a stamp cutter making a stone seal; a man selling sticks. In the center, above, Ti, with his wife sitting at his feet, watches as peasants from his estates bring various animals (antelopes, gazelles, goats, deer, cattle, etc.) as funeral offerings; against each animal is inscribed its name. Below, in three rows: cattle are led in; three village elders are forcibly brought into the estate office to account for their taxes; bottom row, a variety of poultry (cranes, geese, pigeons, etc.). To the right, above, Ti seated at table, with servants bringing funeral offerings; below, servants with gifts and musicians (harpists and flute players); sacrificial animals slaughtered and cut up.
On the west side of the chapel are two large false doors marking the entrance to the Realm of the Dead. In front of the left hand one is a stone offering table. In the center of the wall: slaughtering of sacrificial animals and presentation of offerings (damaged); above, tables.
The reliefs on the north side of the chapel depict life in the marshes of the Delta. On the left (from top to bottom): Ti watching bird catchers and fishermen; a hut containing the birds and fish that have been caught; two men cutting up fish at a small table; (below) cattle grazing; a cow calving and another being milked, with an overseer leaning on his staff and a herdsman holding the calf to prevent it from running to its mother; (left) calves tethered to stakes try to break loose, while others graze peacefully; (right) herdsmen in small papyrus boats driving cattle across a river in which two crocodiles are lying; (left) two dwarfs with their master's pet monkey and grayhounds. In the center of the wall: Ti sailing through the marshes in a papyrus boat; in front of him another boat whose crew are hunting hippopotamuses with harpoons; a hippopotamus biting a crocodile; to the rear a small boat with a man who has hooked a catfish; birds nesting and fluttering about in the papyrus thicket. To the left: harvesting papyrus and building papyrus boats; boatmen quarrelling and fighting; fishing (a fisherman putting the fish he has caught in his fish trap into a basket); tilling the ground (one man plowing) with two oxen note the form of the plow while another spurs them on; another breaks up the clods, while another sows the seed, with a scribe looking on); rams are driven over the newly sown ground to tread in the seed, while to the right are men hoeing; cattle returning from pasturage in the Delta are driven through the water; in front a herdsman carrying a young calf on his shoulders.
A narrow strip running along the foot of the north wall depicts 36 peasant women bearing offerings of meat, poultry, vegetables, fruit and drink from Ti's various estates, the names of which are given.
Corridors
A door at the far corner of the pillared hall (on either side three figures of Ti, each time in different garb, walking towards the entrance) leads into a corridor, with reliefs of servants bearing gifts of all kinds into the tomb. On the right hand wall is a false door for Ti's wife Neferhotpe. Another door opens into a second corridor. Left hand wall, bottom row: sacrificial animals being slaughtered; above, statues of the dead man being conveyed to the tomb on sledges, with a man in front of them pouring water. Right-hand wall: arrival of the ships in which Ti has inspected his estates in the Delta (note the curious steering gear). Above the entrance door: Ti and his wife in a boat in a thicket of papyrus. Over the door into the chapel: female dancers and singers. A door on the right leads into a side room, in which the colors of the reliefs are excellently preserved. On the upper part of the left-hand door jamb a piece of the sycamore wood to which the door was attached is still in place. Right hand wall: Ti, on right, receiving votive gifts (flowers, cakes, poultry, etc.) from servants; top row, tables with votive offerings. Rear wall, upper rows: potters and bakers; below, a man measuring corn, with scribes recording the quantity. Left hand wall: Ti; to right, servants with votive gifts; above, tables and vessels of various kinds. Entrance wall: tables, with various vessels.
Mastaba of Ti - Pillared Hall
A doorway flanked by figures of the dead man and inscriptions leads into a large pillared hall, with a modern timber roof borne on 12 square ancient pillars (restored), in which offerings were presented. In the center is a flight of steps leading into a low sloping passage which runs the whole length of the building to an antechamber and beyond this the tomb chamber. The sarcophagus, now empty, completely fills the recess in which it stands.
The reliefs in this hall are badly weathered, some of them being quite unrecognizable. North wall: Ti watching the sacrificial animals being slaughtered and cut up; servants with votive gifts. Behind this wall was the serdab containing a statue of the dead man. East wall (left hand side only): Ti carried in a litter, preceded by servants with fans, boxes and chairs. West wall (right to left): Ti and his wife watching the fattening of geese and the feeding of cranes; a poultry yard; Ti receiving the accounts of his officials, who stand in a pillared building; Ti (upper part of figure destroyed) watching his ships coming in and herds of livestock being driven towards him; false door for Ti's son.
The reliefs in this hall are badly weathered, some of them being quite unrecognizable. North wall: Ti watching the sacrificial animals being slaughtered and cut up; servants with votive gifts. Behind this wall was the serdab containing a statue of the dead man. East wall (left hand side only): Ti carried in a litter, preceded by servants with fans, boxes and chairs. West wall (right to left): Ti and his wife watching the fattening of geese and the feeding of cranes; a poultry yard; Ti receiving the accounts of his officials, who stand in a pillared building; Ti (upper part of figure destroyed) watching his ships coming in and herds of livestock being driven towards him; false door for Ti's son.
Mastaba of Ti - Vestibule
The entrance opens into a small vestibule with two pillars (upper parts restored), on the front of which Ti is depicted wearing a long wig and a short, wide apron and holding a long staff in one hand and a kind of club in the other. East wall: women, representing the villages owned by Ti, bringing food to the tomb. South wall: poultry yard, feeding of pigeons. The other reliefs are obliterated.
