Saqqara - Tomb of Mereruka

efore whom is his small son Meriteti, holding a lotus stem and a bird; behind him his wife and rows of servants. First room, north wall: Mereruka, in a papyrus boat with his wife, spearing fish; men in two small boats harpooning three hippopotamuses; in the reeds are birds, in the river fish. south wall: the dead man, in a boat with his wife, hunting in the marshes. The scene is full of fascinating detail birds, fish, etc., a hippopotamus biting a crocodile; below, left, cattle being driven through a river; above, cattle thrown to the ground for slaughter (note the accurately observed attitudes of the cattle); gardens being watered. To the right of the first room is a small side chamber with a mummyshaft. Adjoining the first room on the north is an almost exactly square room. east wall: Mereruka and his wife (to left) inspecting various operations, depicted in six rows. Two lowest rows: goldsmiths making necklaces and various vessels. Third row: three statues being drawn to the tomb, while a priest burns incense. Fourth row: carpenters making beds. Fifth and sixth rows: manufacture of stone vessels. west wall: Mereruka and his wife, accompanied by servants, watch hunters in the desert; desert animals; a hound seizes an antelope; a lion devouring a bull; hedgehogs and hares. Beyond this is a long room. east wall: on the right Mereruka and his wife, followed by servants, watching fishermen; Mereruka's stout brother, in a boat, drinking from a cup; on the left Mereruka and his wife, preceded by servants, one of whom leads a monkey and two hounds on a leash. west wall: on the left the estate office, a hall with columns in which the clerks sit, while the village elders are dragged in to pay their taxes, some being cudgeled, while one is stripped, tied to a post and beaten; on the right Mereruka and his wife watching offerings being made to his statue. Immediately left of the entrance to this room is a door into another long room, without decoration.

At the northeast corner of the long room a door leads into a hall with four pillars supporting the roof, on which are sunk reliefs of the dead man. west wall (from the left): bedroom scenes; Mereruka and his wife watching as the canopied bed is prepared; the dead man and his wife, who is playing a harp, sit on a large couch with lions' feet, under which are two rows of vases; Mereruka, seated in an armchair, receiving gifts (vases, wooden chests, etc.) brought by servants. north wall: priests of the mortuary cult bring in food and drink for the dead man. east wall: Mereruka and his wife, with servants; servants bringing in votive offerings; male and female dancers (bottom two rows). south wall: the dead man receiving votive offerings.

Beyond the long room is a transverse room in which only a few reliefs are preserved, together with a false door at the west end, with the serdab. In the floor is a shaft leading to the tomb chamber, which was closed by a stone slab running in vertical grooves. The walls of the chamber are covered with reliefs depicting votive offerings and lists of offerings, and have magnificent false doors. Against the rear wall is the huge stone sarcophagus. Adjoining the east end of the transverse room is a smaller room with reliefs depicting the bringing of offerings and scenes from everyday life. north wall: the dead man receiving offerings; second bottom row, ten store rooms; bottom row, treading grapes and pressing the trodden grapes in a sack. On the other walls the dead man is shown having food and drink brought to him.

Immediately north of the transverse room is the large sacrificial chamber, the roof of which is borne on six square pillars, on which Mereruka is represented standing erect. In the middle of the room is a stone ring for tethering the sacrificial ox. In the north wall is a niche containing a statue of Mereruka, with an offering table in front of it. Reliefs on the north wall (left to right): Mereruka inspecting domestic animals, etc.; top row, boatbuilding; four lower rows, gazelles, antelopes, cattle; bottom row, feeding tame hyenas; the aged Mereruka conducted by his two grown-up sons; Mereruka carried in a litter, with a large retinue, including two dwarfs leading dogs. west wall (badly damaged): boats. south wall (only bottom row preserved): the funeral; entrance to the tomb, in front of which stand priests and dancing girls; farther left, men carrying a large chest; votive offerings; four boats, with several men in the water; funeral procession, with women mourners; to the left of the door, the dead man, accompanied by two women, sailing through the marshes, with crocodiles and fish in the water. East wall: on the right Mereruka with his wife and mother watching harvesting operations; on the left Mereruka and his wife playing a board game. Above and beside the door at the northeast corner which leads into Meriteti's part of the tomb: Mereruka with his wife and mother watching dancers and female musicians; various games.