The well-preserved mastaba of Ti is located at the northern edge of
the Saqqara necropolis, about 300m north of the 'Philosopher's
Circle'. Ti held the titles of 'Overseer of the Pyramids of Niuserre',
and 'Overseer of the Sun-Temples of Sahure, Neferirkare and Niuserre',
making him a high-status official during Dynasty V.
The tomb was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1865 and has since been
restored and reconstructed by the Egyptian Antiquities Department, to
become known as probably the most beautifully decorated Old Kingdom
mastaba in the whole necropolis. The tomb not only has superb reliefs,
but the variety of subjects also makes it very interesting.
As with other tombs dating to this period, the entrance was via a
portico on the northern side. This leads into a huge columned
courtyard with twelve square pillars and has a burial shaft (uninscribed)
in the centre where Ti's empty sarcophagus was found. Unfortunately
little exists today of the courtyard decoration, but on the north-east
corner there is an aperture into the first serdab (statue chamber).
Reliefs remaining in the courtyard include Ti in agricultural scenes
and scenes of daily life. At the south-west corner of the courtyard
there is a false door stela of his son, Demedji.
A narrow decorated corridor leads to two rooms and a false door of
Ti's wife, Neferhetpes, who was a Priestess of Neith and Hathor, can
be seen on the right-hand side of the passage. Further along on the
right-hand side is a long narrow chamber which is decorated with
colourful reliefs of food preparation, including cooking and brewing,
and pottery production, as well as scribes recording the activities. |
The second and larger of the two chambers, at the end of the corridor,
is an offering hall, with a roof supported by two square pillars and
has the most beautiful reliefs of the tomb. Above the door there are
musicians and dancers while on the left-hand (east) wall the tomb
owner watches agricultural activities and there are scenes of
boat-building.
The southern wall has three restored apertures through which the
serdab statue can be viewed. The serdab now holds a replica of the
original life-sized statue (in Cairo Museum) - Ti would have
communicated with the world of the living and witnessed his ritual
offerings through these apertures. The wall between the spy-holes
depicts scenes of Ti inspecting viticulture and bird-catching. There
are also many interesting reliefs showing various industries,
including carpentry, sculpture and metal-working.
The western wall has two false doors, one of which has an alabaster
offering table in front of it. This stela of Ti is at the northern end
of the wall has a double jamb depicting four standing images of the
deceased. |
