During the fifth dynasty an important group of tombs developed in a trench south of the causeway of Unas. he cemetery started in what originally used to be a quarry established by Djoser. During the fifth dynasty, several rock-cut tombs were built in its southern slope. hese tombs are unevenly distributed into two eastern and western parts and are situated at two different levels.19 hey represent, however, only the proverbial tip of the iceberg since large sections of the trench have never been excavated. Yet this cemetery contains by far the largest number of rock-cut tombs in the whole area.
He lower level tombs were built from the west to the east and, besides many uninscribed tombs, there belong
Fig. 1: Sayce manuscripts, pages 27 a and b, notes by Petrie on tombs discovered in North Saqqara. Courtesy of the Griffith Institute, Oxford
The tombs of Niankhra, Akhtihotep, Irukaptah, Ankh and Bunefer. hen follows an as yet unexcavated middle part of the cemetery, which continues on the east with the tombs of niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, irienkaptah, sekhentiu and Neferseshemptah.
He upper terrace seems to have existed only in the eastern part of the quarry. he tombs situated here were also built from the west to the east and in addition to some uninscribed chapels, they include the tombs of Nefer and Kahay, Ankhirptah and nikaankh.
He eastern as well as the western ends of the cemetery are demarcated by a north-south orientated slope within the quarry. On the west, there is the tomb of Neferherenptah that was built shortly before the construction of the Unas causeway. During its building, the causeway was erected over two uninscribed tombs that existed at this location prior to the building project of Neferherenptah. On the east, there are several further undecorated and uninscribed rock-cut tombs, all of them concentrated on the lower terrace of the quarry.
Here is even a possibility that there were three terraces.
Nowadays, however, only two of them, the upper and the lower are discernible. he uninscribed tombs in this cemetery are located on the lower terrace. From the occurrence of shafts and false doors it seems probable that at least some of these were in use. In the south-eastern corner of the cemetery, to the east of the tomb of Sekhentiu and Neferseshemptah, there is a tomb with a preserved architrave bearing an offering formula but without the name of the tomb owner. To the north of it is another one, with a wall covered with rough plaster with red lines designed to facilitate the composition process of the decoration. Further north there is an additional tomb with a transverse room and two roughly-cut false doors in the western wall. In the close vicinity of this tomb are preserved the remains of a mud-brick chapel with an offering bench in the eastern part. According to Altenmuller, it is very possible that some more tombs existed near here.
He rock-cut tombs situated on the lower terrace, in the south-eastern part of the quarry, represent the latest layer of the tombs that were built here shortly before the reign of Unas. hese were accessible from the same level. In front of
Fig. 2: Rock-cut tombs cemetery south of the pyramid of Unas (M. Bdrta)
Fig. 3: Bubasteion cemetery with location of the former Old Kingdom rock-cut tombs (M. Bdrta)
Their entrances is a stretch of levelled bedrock. In contrast, the tombs to the west of the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep are accessible from a depth of about 1.70 m. Given the fact that the terrace slopes steeply to the right in front of the tomb of niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, a considerable amount of work was necessary to develop the terrace prior to the construction of this tomb. (Fig. 2).
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