Pyramid and Mortuary
Temple of Teti
Teti
was the first king of Dynasty VI and is the owner of the most northerly of the
Saqqara pyramids, situated to the north-east of the Step Pyramid complex.
Teti’s pyramid is currently the only one open to visitors at Saqqara. Its
subterranean chambers contain walls inscribed with columns of hieroglyphs,
known as the Pyramid Texts and there is also an especially well-preserved
satellite pyramid which adjoins the mortuary temple.
The
Pyramid of Teti was investigated by Perring in 1839 but was first entered by
Maspero in 1882 during his quest for pyramid texts. It was excavated by James
Quibell in 1907-8 and during the latter part of the 20th century by
Jean-Philippe Lauer and Pierre Leclant and others.
The
pyramid complex was called ‘Teti’s (cult) places are enduring’ and follows the
plan of Dynasty V structures, similar to that of Teti’s predecessor Unas. The
King’s pyramid consisted of a core of five levels of masonry encased in small
locally-quarried limestone blocks, some of which are still in situ on the
eastern side. The original height of the pyramid is thought to have been over
50m and its length on each side is 78.5m. The structure today however, is
little more than a rounded hill of rubble, having suffered much robbing of its
stone in antiquity when the area was used as a quarry over the centuries.
The
entrance to the substructure was found on the pyramid’s northern side,
underneath a pavement in the northern entrance chapel, which had the usual
offering reliefs on its walls. A descending granite-lined passage leads to a
horizontal corridor which was originally blocked by three granite portcullis
slabs. The vestibule or antechamber, which like others of the period lies
directly under the centre of the pyramid and also like the others had vaulted
ceilings of huge limestone blocks which continued into the burial chamber.
There are doorways to the east and west of the antechamber. To the east is a
chamber with three niches or magazines (perhaps originally containing statues
of the pharaoh) and to the west is the entrance to the burial chamber.
The
walls of the burial chamber are inscribed with Pyramid Texts, following the
example of Unas and describe the King’s journey from the land of the living to
the Netherworld. These spells or ‘utterances’ were intended to guide the
pharaoh successfully towards his eternal life with the gods. (See the page on
the Pyramid of Unas for more details). The texts are beautifully carved in
columns and his cartouche is easy to pick out in hieroglyphs, but they were
never completed and are more damaged than those in the Pyramid of Unas. It is
suggested that Teti died before the decoration of his burial chamber was
complete – the ancient historian Manetho states that he was murdered by his
bodyguards, though there is no evidence for this. Parts of the walls were also decorated
with stylised reliefs painted to resemble a ‘palace façade’ and the ceiling was
painted with stars.
Teti’s
grey basalt sarcophagus was found on the western side of the burial chamber but
its lid had been broken by robbers while they plundered the tomb. The lower
part, which is well-preserved, was originally decorated with gilded
inscriptions (a single band of Pyramid Texts) and although unfinished, was the
first sarcophagus known to be decorated. At the foot of the sarcophagus the
King’s canopic chest was originally sunk into the floor. Teti’s mummy was not
recovered, but remains of an arm were found among the rubble which may have
been all that was left behind by the grave-robbers.
Little
remains of the mortuary temple on the eastern side of the pyramid because this
was also badly robbed for stone in antiquity. A plaster mummy-mask (now in
Cairo Museum) was found in the temple remains, but it is not known whether this
was taken from the King’s mummy. The structure more or less follows the
standard plan for the period, only differing in its entrance which was on the
south-east corner. This was perhaps because an earlier pyramid existed to the
east (Lepsius XXIX). From the entrance there is a transverse corridor leading
to an entrance hall on the temple’s main axis, which had a ceiling decorated
with stars. The open courtyard had a portico of 18 pink granite pillars and
here Teti returned to the square pillars of Dynasty IV at the corners. A low
stone altar, similarly decorated to those in the mortuary temples of his
predecessors, stood in the centre. A short staircase in the centre of the
western wall led up to a niched statue-chamber or chapel, with granite doorways
inscribed with the names and titles of the King and from there to the offering
hall. The massive quartzite base of a false door on the western side of the
offering hall still remains in situ and it was here that the mortuary cult of
Teti was maintained.
A
satellite pyramid is situated at the south-east corner of the mortuary temple,
the entrance on the northern side gives access to the single chamber through a
descending passage. It is enclosed within its own perimeter wall and there were
four libation basins set into the surrounding courtyard pavement.
Two
of Teti’s queens had their own pyramids to the north of his complex in a
revival of Dynasty IV tradition. Iput was the mother of Teti’s son Pepi I and thought
to be a daughter of Unas. Archaeologists suggest that her tomb was altered from
a mastaba to a small pyramid by her son, a conclusion reached by the fact that
although there was a small chapel on the northern side, there was no entrance
there, but a vertical shaft led to the burial chamber from the second layer of
the structure. A rough limestone sarcophagus was found, containing fragments of
a cedar coffin and the skeleton of a middle-aged woman as well as five
limestone canopic jars, a headrest, necklace and bracelet and a small tablet
with the names of sacred oils among the debris of model vessels and tools. On
the eastern side of Iput’s pyramid there was a small mortuary temple with a
chapel, court, a chamber with three niches and an offering hall. In the western
wall of the offering hall was a limestone false door and an inscribed granite
altar naming the queen as the mother of Pepi I.
There
are little remains of the other queen’s pyramid, belonging to Teti’s consort
Khuit (Kawit). It was first investigated by Victor Loret in the 1890s and Cecil
Firth in 1922, but archaeologists at the time were not able to positively
identify the structure as a pyramid. Only recent excavations conducted by Zahi
Hawass since 1995 have led to the certainty that this was a pyramid of Queen
Khuit. Hawass has investigated the pyramid’s subterranean chambers and
re-excavated a mortuary temple on the eastern side of the pyramid, locating an
offering hall with a false door and an altar.
Teti’s
pyramid complex is surrounded by mastaba tombs of the officials of his reign,
including the largest of the Saqqara tombs belonging to the vizier Mereruka,
who was married to the King’s eldest daughter. Mereruka was later to become the
high priest of Teti’s funerary cult. His causeway and valley temple have not
yet been properly excavated.
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