Mastabet el-Fara'un

The Mastabat al - Fir'aun ( مصطبة الفرعون, DMG Maṣṭabat al - Fir ʿ awn, in Egyptological literature mostly as Mastaba el- Faraun, Mastabat el- Faraun or Mastabat Faraun referred to ) is the tomb of the ancient Egyptian king Shepseskaf, the last contemporary occupied the ruler of the 4th dynasty. It is located in Saqqara -South, midway between the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara and the pyramids of the founder of the 4th Dynasty, Sneferu at Dahshur.

Research

Was described for the first time the Mastabat al - Fir'aun by John Perring middle of the 19th century. Karl Richard Lepsius also visited the grave, but did not carry out detailed investigations. The first exploration of the underground took place in 1858 by Auguste Mariette. A close examination of the entire grave system took until 1924/25, Gustave Jéquier. It was he who could assign by the discovery of a stele broken piece as first Shepseskaf the building, previously had mistakenly Unas, the last ruler of the 5th Dynasty, held for the client.

The Mastaba

The Mastaba has a length of 99.60 m and a width of 74.40 m. Their height is about 18 m and the inclination angle around 70 °. For the core masonry red sandstone has been used, just like the Red Pyramid of Sneferu. From the panel today only sparse remains are preserved, but from which can still read that the bottom layer of red granite and all other layers of Tura limestone existed. It can clearly be seen that the walls forming two stages. The Mastabat al - Fir'aun was so inspired by the Early Dynastic royal tombs from Sakkara North.

The substructure

At the small northern side of the entrance is to the underground chamber system. There is a hallway with a slope of 23 ° 30 ' down. Its length was originally 20.75 m, today due to a breach but only 16.30 m. After this stretch of gear goes into the horizontal. First, it forms a small chamber with a length of 2.67 m and a height of 2 m. Behind this chamber followed by three still anchored in the ceiling case stones. The corridor is at this point 1.10 m wide and its height is reduced to 1.27 m. The walls and ceiling are covered with granite here. After the event rocks the gangway height increases again, the soil here is very uneven, however, as he was no longer paved. After a further reduction in the height of 1.20 m and a total distance of 19.46 m in the horizontal plane of the gear eventually empties into the antechamber.

The pre-chamber has an east-west length of 8.31 m, a width of 3.05 m and a height of 5.55 m. It is topped by a gabled roof made ​​of granite. From its western side there is access by a 1.20 m high, 1.11 m wide and 1.54 m long corridor with a gradient of 10 ° 30 ' to the burial chamber. This is 7.79 m long, 3.85 m wide and 4.90 m high. It has a gable roof made ​​of granite, the underside of which has been worked to a vault. From the coffin, which was probably made ​​from greywacke or basalt fragments are still preserved. Both the pre-and the burial chamber are lined with granite, but was no longer smoothed.

From the southeast corner of the antechamber of a passage leads further south. It is 10.62 m long, 1.14 m wide and 2.10 to 2.30 m high. There are four narrow slots, further on its western side, directly opposite the far east to its eastern side. The eastern niches are 2.10 to 2.27 m long, 0.80 m wide and just 1.40 meters high, the western niche has a length of 2.65 m and a width of 1.16 m.

The grave complex

The mastaba is surrounded by two mud-brick walls. The first defines an approximately 10 m wide use around the mastaba. She herself has a thickness of 2.05 m. A second wall encloses the entire grave District at a distance of nearly 48 m. On the east side of the mastaba, a small mortuary temple connects, of which only the foundations and slight remains of the masonry are preserved. In this temple opens a causeway, of which only the upper part is obtained. The rest of the causeway and the valley temple have not been identified.

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