Mastaba of Mereruka

Dr. Abir Enany

Mastabas of Nobles:
During the Old Kingdom, the Nobles were buried under
rectangular mastabas similar to those used by kings in the Archaic
Period but made of stone. The Mastaba had a structure above the ground
called super-structure and a shaft leading down to the burial chamber
under the ground called the sub-structure. The super-structure was most
of the time built of limestone and contained several rooms with
decorated walls covered with scenes of daily life. The burial chamber in
the sub-structure contained the mummy, the sarcophagus and some
funerary objects.
Since the tomb was considered the eternal house for Ancient
Egyptians, they decorated it with scenes representing the beautiful things
they enjoyed in life and hoped that by the help of Magic these scenes
would come alive. For example, the tomb contained scenes of family
members listening to music, going to fishing or hunting trips, children
playing, food and agriculture scenes.

Plan of a mastaba and a picture of another

The dead would be buried in the burial chamber that was closed after the
burial while the mastaba was left open so that the family members could
visit him regularly especially on feast days. Some of these mastabas are
small but some are huge depending on how close to the king the tomb
owner was. The tomb was built by royal workers according to royal
order.
Mastaba of Mereruka:
Mereruka was a noble from the time of King Teti, the first king of
the Sixth Dynasty. He held many jobs and had about eighty titles which
indicate his importance. He was the king’s vizier which is equal to
today’s prime minister. During the Sixth Dynasty the nobles had enjoyed
great power and had some lovely tombs while the kings had much
smaller pyramids compared to those of the Fourth Dynasty at Giza. This
shows the growing position of the nobles.
Mereruka was married to King Teti’s daughter, Hert-watet-khet
who had the nickname Seshseshet. She is buried in the mastaba and has
her own suite with her burial shaft as well as their son, Meriteti who also
has his suite with his burial shaft.
The Mastaba of Mereruka is the largest in Saqqara. It has 32 rooms
for him, his wife and his son. It was built with large blocks of
limestone. When the tomb was discovered by the Egyptologist J. De
Morgan in 1893 some of the upper parts of walls were fallen down.
These were put in their place, but many were lost and were replaced
with undecorated walls. Any decoration or colors that are seen today are
original from the time of building the tomb. Many beautiful scenes
remained and may be divide in categories or themes. Before describing
the themes, we need to understand the magical powers of the pictures.
Power of Magic for Words and Images:
Ancient Egyptians believed that when you draw a picture, write a
word or speak it, you create this picture or word and give it the magical
power to make it alive. They therefore wrote texts and drew pictures in
their tombs that they wanted to come alive again in the next life.
Themes of Scenes:
1. Fishing & hunting
2. Industries
3. Music and entertainment
4. Agriculture
5. The tomb owner and his family
6. Offerings

1. Fishing and hunting:

In the first room of the tomb we find beautiful scenes of fishing.
The walls are decorated with scenes of marshes filled with wild life.
Each side is set on a stretch of horizontal water teaming with a variety
fish, large hippopotami and dangerous crocodiles. The image of
Mereruka is fully preserved on the south wall, showing him fishing with
a fishing harpoon that had fish on one wall and hunting birds on the
other. On both walls Mereruka is shown accompanied by his wife in a
light papyrus skiff (boat). The Ancient Egyptians believed papyrus boats
were magically protected and would not be attacked by crocodiles or
hippos. In the lower register we see immediately below the reeds,
crocodiles are attacked by hippos and a crocodile attacking a baby hippo
while still being born. Hippos and crocodiles were considered evil and
these scenes would help make them magically under control. Another
fishing scene in another room shows various methods which the
Egyptians used for fishing, from the use of a simple line to the use of
baskets and large nets. The scene also shows a large variety of fish in
exquisite detail.
 2. Industries
In the second room of the tomb the wall is subdivided into several
registers showing many craftsmen busy in their various crafts in front of
Mereruka and his wife. Workers are weighing then smelting gold ore,
then pouring the molten metal and finally beating the gold into foil. The
lower of the two registers shows the production of collars and pectorals.
In another register we can see the jewelry that they were making. We
also see other workers making vases and statues of Mereruka as well as
wooden furniture. All these things were intended for the tomb and magic
will make them real as Egyptians believed.

The Weighing of gold and making of Jewelry

3. Music and entertainment

One room in the tomb can be called the music room as it has scenes
of Mereruka and his wife listing to music and watching dancing. There
is a scene showing Seshseshet playing the harp for her husband . There
are also other rooms with scenes showing acrobat dances and children
playing different games such as tug of war [by two teams pulling ends of
a rope to see who wins] or wrestling. These are happy moments that
Mereruka wished to see in his next life.
 4. Agriculture
In the largest room of the tomb a wall has scenes of agriculture
especially harvesting the fields. The wheat plants are taller that they are
in reality to hope for more food for Mereruka in his next life. The
farmers are cutting the plants with large sickles. Two flute players are
playing music for the farmers while some are men are singing for them.
The plants were collected into small bundles to be collected in large
sacks on backs of donkeys. The scenes show how the Egyptians
separated the seeds from the corns by the help of animals. We also see in
the same room scenes of feeding animals.

Agriculture scenes

5. The tomb owner and his family:

All around the tomb the tomb owner was represented with his family.
This includes his wife, his children, his mother and his brother. We see
his wife beside him in almost all activities which shows the importance
of the family for Egyptians that they wished to meet again in the next
life. It is also interesting that we see Mereruka’s Saluki dogs’ images.
6. Offerings
Most passageways are decorated on both sides, with the rows of servants
carrying various items: livestock [animals], birds, food and drink. Those
servants are the offering bearers who are taking food to the statues of
Mereruka that is considered his image. They are also taking it towards
the False Door which is a closed door on the wall above the shaft
leading to the burial chamber. The ka of Mereruka should read the
magical text on this door so it can go through the shaft to the mummy.
There are also in several rooms different scenes of preparing food,
slaughtering animals and cutting it as well as wine making.

Serdab for a statue Mereruka statue with an offering table

A False Door with an Offering Table

At the innermost room of the tomb, Mereruka is presented in his old age.
He wears a long kilt and is walkinh supported by his children or carried
on a chair. Then we see scenes of the funeral where the wife and other
women are crying. There is also a funerary boat that is presumably
carrying the body of Mereruka. This part of the tomb is partly unfinished
and might have been decorated after the death of Mereruka.

Women crying in Mereruka’s funeral

Read more:
http://www.touregypt.net/mereruka.htm#ixzz2oC7zS4xP
http://www.osirisnet.net/mastabas/mererouka/e_mereruka_01.htm