EGYPTIAN
ARCHAEOLOGY
The burial chamber of Rashepses at Saqqara In 2012 Hany Abdallah El-Tayeb was awarded a grant from the EES Centenary Fund, which enabled him to excavate the burial chamber of the Saqqara tomb of Rashepses. The tomb of Rashepses (LS16), dating to the reign of King Djedkare, is situated just to the north of Djoser’s Step Pyramid complex at Saqqara and has been known since the early 1800s. However, a large part of the mastaba had remained unexcavated until 2010 when I re-started archaeological work at the tomb for my PhD. Neither the burial chamber of the tomb nor its point of access are mentioned in previous studies (Lepsius, Denkmäler, pp.165-170, pls 60-64; Porter & Moss, Topographical Bibliography III2, pp.494-496; Quibell, Excavations at Saqqara (1907-1908), pp.23-24, pls 60-61.2) so one of the aims of the renewed exploration was to investigate the tomb-owner’s burial apartment. In 2010, a square shaft (1.90m along each side) was found in the area north-west of the false-door room. The shaft fill consisted of a mixture of local limestone, sand and fragments of pottery, with a few human bones. At a depth of 11m an entrance led from the south wall of the shaft into a large burial chamber which measures 5.4m x 5.0m, is 2.5m high and has painted decoration. Painted burial chambers are known at Saqqara from the late Fifth/early Sixth Dynasty but Rashepses’ tomb, of the reign of King Djedkare, seems to be the earliest known example. At Giza the earliest painted burial chambers date to the time of Djedkare/Unas (e.g. that of SenedjemibInti - see Kanawati, Decorated Burial Chambers, pp.43–46).
Three walls, those on the east, west and north, of Rashepses’ burial chamber were decorated. Cut into the bedrock, they were first plastered and then the scenes were painted. Some parts of the decoration are in bad condition and damaged, but many parts are surprisingly well preserved, still showing the bright colours used by the ancient artists. The east wall contains three niches with floors slightly
The location of the tomb of Rashepses
Plan of the tomb of Rashepses with the burial chamber. Drawing by Mohammed Fathy
The titles and name of Rashepses, written inside the burial chamber