Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 30 Nov. - 6 Dec. 2000 Issue No.510

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One tomb, many men

By Nevine El-Aref

The mystery man: a statue of a man named Nefer, found in Inty's tomb

When a joint Czech-Egyptian team of archaeologists working at the Abu Sir necropolis discovered the tomb of what appeared to be an important official in the time of Pharaoh Teti I last week, the few antiquities recovered seemed straightforward enough. The official, Inty, was depicted at the entrance of the tomb in a life-size relief carrying a staff -- presumably to indicate his high status, or perhaps to ward off intruders from violating his burial chamber. The team went in and cleared the inner corridor, uncovering a fairly well-preserved limestone statue of a seated man roughly 46 centimetres tall. It seemed obvious that this was the deceased.

But preliminary studies of the hieroglyphics engraved on the statue revealed that it was the image of a man named Nefer. The anomaly wouldn't have been too strange, if it weren't for the niche found in further investigations that contained three large limestone statues of yet another person, apparently named Hershef. Some have speculated that the men were relatives, but so far the team hasn't found any indications of who they are, or why their likenesses would be buried with the deceased.

According to Bretislav Vachala, head of the Czech mission, the tomb appears to have been entered and robbed long ago -- who knows what valuable treasures were buried with him. Inside the burial chamber, the team came upon Inty's empty limestone sarcophagus, broken in one corner. As is often the case, even the mummy of the deceased is missing and bones are scattered throughout the burial chamber. The statue of Nefer was probably dropped or forgotten by escaping thieves.

Teti I was the founder of the sixth dynasty, so Inty likely died over four millennia ago. High-ranking officials carried many titles and among those mentioned in Inty's tomb, it seems that he was both a high priest and judge. The tomb is decorated with well-preserved painted reliefs featuring Inty's everyday life and showing him with his wife and children. The inner chamber has two "false doors", decorated with coloured reliefs and hieroglyphic texts bearing the name and many titles of the deceased. A funerary shaft descends some 20 metres.

Abu Sir lies between Giza and Saqqara, and Inty's tomb is not the only sixth-dynasty tomb found in the area, as it seems many important noblemen of the era chose to be buried there. The necropolis, in fact, appears to be an extension of the noblemen's cemeteries at Saqqara, and perhaps even as rich in material remains.

"It is a puzzle," remarked Gaballa Ali Gaballa, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). "The tomb is clearly important, and the surviving reliefs are impressive -- but who are all these people buried with the king's high priest?"

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