Next to the pyramid of Teti is the Mastaba of Mereruka, his son-in-law and vizier. Mastaba was a form of burial of pharaohs during the archaic period and the antique period. It is an elongated, truncated pyramidal structure that served as a burial vault for the pharaohs of Early Dynastic Period, their families, or high-ranking officials. The tombs were built on the western bank of the Nile, where the sun descends into the underworld.
Conventionally, mastaba is divided into underground and above-ground parts. The first contains one or more burial chambers for the main mummy and his family members. From these chambers, shafts extend vertically upward, 12-20 meters long (Ikram 170). After the burial, they were laid so that no one from the outside could disturb the mummified remains. The Matsaba of Mereruka is a great example of the Old Kingdom tomb and its purpose of ensuring a prosperous afterlife for the buried one.
However, it was later also used to bury famous people such as Mereruka, governor of Memphis during the VI Dynasty. The vizier possessed the highest administration responsibility and power after the king (Ikram 179). This is reflected in both the greatness and complexity of the funerary superstructure of Mereruka. Even during their lifetime, the Egyptian visors took care of the erection of the tomb (Ikram 297). The priests were appointed responsible for the maintenance and preparation of those.
It is the largest mastaba in Saqqara, containing 32 rooms and its substructure being similar to a palace. In addition to Mereruka himself, his wife and son are buried there – burial chambers are located underground. In this sense, the underground chambers represent the Underworld where Osiris was supposed to meet the ka (soul). To get there, the ka would have to travel through the tomb chapel that symbolizes the gate to the other world (Ikram 287). The first mention of the king of the afterlife was found on the wall of the pyramid (Ikram 159). The inscription was created during the 5th Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and is referred as the Pyramid Texts.
Since the northern part of the tomb lacked the exterior stela, the false door represents a symbolic entrance to another world that enabled the spirit to travel between the two realities (Ikram 291). On this stone, the full name of the vizier are indicated as well as a set of several standard prayers that priests or visitors were supposed to read to help the spirit of a person would continue to prosper (Ikram 297). Overall, it is evident that being dead in Ancient Egypt did not necessarily mean losing connection with the outer world.
If one is enough attentive enough and looks closely, the will notice that corridor connecting the false door with the serdab is not similar to the shaft that leads to the burial chamber. If the walls of the first one are plastered, they have paintings or bas-reliefs, then the well walls have an unworked appearance. There is an altar in front of the false door, and its main function is to serve as a place where offerings should be brough to. Nearby is a statue of Mereruka wearing a skirt with a wide wedge – evidence of a high position. This is a so-called serdab, a room containing statues of the deceased. Sometimes the wall would have holes for eyes so that the deceased could observe activities in the tomb (Ikram 291). From here, one could enter the tomb shaft and the tomb chamber itself.
It is noteworthy that in the corridors of the mastaba, all corners are rounded and have a clear radius. This was done for the convenience of moving people since the sarcophagus definitely could not squeeze through such narrow passages (Ikram 171). The mastaba is beautifully decorated with colored reliefs and has a spacious central hall with six columns. Decoration in tombs has crucial importance since they ensure a vivid and perfect life in the Afterworld. Moreover, people believed that the spirit could come back to the outer world (Ikram 293). In case the tomb was robbed, a ka could find a sustenance source in the images.
Mainly, the reliefs on the tomb walls depict the culture and lifestyle of ancient Egyptians. They depict scenes of hunting, fishing, the whole process of making offerings to the deceased – grazing cattle, slaughtering a bull, cutting carcasses. In the last scene, Mereruka is presented with pieces of meat. In the depiction of a person, the ancient Egyptians had strict canons. The head was supposed to be one-eighth of the body and was drawn in profile.
The body was depicted face-to-face, and the legs were in motion. The similarity of the drawing with the original was not a portrait one but carried in itself individual features. In accordance with the type, people were depicted as tall or short, thick or thin. These decorative themes on the walls are typical for mortuary temples built since the times of the 5th Dynasty (Ikram 294). They highlight the vital role of the vizier and his closeness to the king.
The function of these paintings, their arrangement, the motives depicted is primarily in restoring the motives of the real life of the buried, so that they have a connection with the earth being on the other side. The location of the false door and the very configuration of the tomb have the same sacred meaning. It was important not only to bury the deceased in parts, but also to provide him with a passage to the afterlife and the ability to move between the worlds.
Work Cited
Ikram, Salima. Ancient Egypt: An Introduction. Cairo: AUC Press, 2010.