CHAPTER I

THE MORTUARY CHAPEL AND SEPULCHRE OF TETA-KY

BY HOWARD CARTER

Though partly excavated in the rock at the side of a foot-hill the Mortuary Chapel of Teta-ky and his family is mainly a crude mud-brick construction, with its actual sepulchres subterranean: these latter are approached from a vertical shaft in the centre of the fore-court (Pl. I. 1 and 2).

The peculiar irregularity of the courtyard and buildings, which will be seen from the plan (Pl. II), seems due, in the first place, to the shape of the site, and, secondly, to the fact that this particular part of the necropolis must have been much overcrowded. Though it is built of mud-brick, the structure itself suffered comparatively little damage until recent years. The low walls of its fore-court, entered from the east, the small painted shrine in the south wall, the vaulted chambers on either side of the alley that leads to the principal and decorated chapel under the rock at the north end, are all more or less intact. In fact, the greater part of its destruction can be put down to the Arabs of modern times. Hence, except from slight mutilations, the structure is still practically intact.

Architecturally the plan and construction is of a well-known type. Its chapels are early examples of the brick-vaulted chambers often found in and so typical of the Dêr el Medînet Necropolis of Thebes. Only two of its chambers are painted: the small shrine or niche built in the wall of the fore-court; and the main chapel under the rock called upon the plan ‘painted vaulted chamber’. The latter alone has inscriptions.

The painted niche has depicted on its right wall seated figures (unnamed) receiving offerings (Pl. III. 1); and on the left wall a conventionally drawn vineyard, in which there is shown a figure gathering grapes (Pl. III. 2). Its barrel-vaulted ceiling, now destroyed, was decorated with multicoloured bands which are so frequently seen on the roofs of Theban rock-cut tombs. But of this ceiling hardly enough remains to allow a true and accurate description.

The main chapel, or painted vaulted chamber, has upon its walls the usual funereal, husbandry, and offering scenes, and among the people portrayed are relatives of Teta-ky (see further description by Legrain, p. 14). Its segmental barrel-vaulted ceiling is painted, like the Beni Hasan tombs, with a wooden key-beam running longitudinally down the centre, painted yellow with darker and almost red graining (Pl. IV. 1); and on either side of the beam, above a _Kheker_ frieze, the space is divided by black lines into red, yellow, and white squares (Pl. IV. 1 and 2). The red and white squares contain quatrefoils. In fact, to quote Professor Newberry’s description[10] of the ceiling decoration of the tomb of Amenemhat would be to describe the roof ornamentation here, it differing only by the absence of imitation mat-work in the centre. Below the _Kheker_ frieze is a band of hieroglyphic inscription giving the names of the deceased, and of his mother.

An interesting and new feature is the series of four small niches along the west wall of the open courtyard (Pl. I. 1 and Pl. II). In these niches were found numerous shawabti figures in model coffins of mud and wood (see further description by Newberry, p. 20). This I believe to be the only instance where such figures have actually been found _in situ_, a fact of some importance, for so little is known about the provenance of these early figures.

Another important discovery was eight similar, but more fully developed figures in wooden sarcophagi (see further description by Newberry, p. 19) placed in pairs on each of the four sides of the mouth of the shaft leading to the subterranean sepulchral chambers (Pl. II). These were buried about a foot below the surface, and were dedicated to persons buried in the vaults below. The reason for their being so placed is unknown; they were possibly guardian figures, like the magical ones placed in the walls of later tombs at the four cardinal points.[11]

From the north and east walls of the main painted chamber are two passages which could not be excavated further than the plan shows, owing to their being under modern native houses. But judging from the kind of rubbish that choked them they appear to have been opened and ransacked. This was probably done by tunnelling from the interior of the native houses above.