Meru was a high-ranking official in the court of the 11th Dynasty Mentuhotep II, who reigned until 2004 BC and, like Meru, is buried at the North Asasif cemetery, the ministry said in a statement today. Thursday, February 9th.
Meru’s stone-hewn tomb has been restored by the Polish Center for Mediterranean Archeology at the University of Warsaw and the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt.
“This is the first site from such an early period in Western Thebes made available to visitors,” the ministry statement quoted Fathi Yassin, Director General of the Antiquities Authority in Upper Egypt, as saying.
The tomb is located opposite the procession boulevard to the temple of Mentuhotep II, with a corridor leading to an offering chapel with an alcove containing statues of the deceased. A burial shaft goes down to a burial chamber with a sarcophagus.
“This is the only decorated room in the mausoleum, with an unusual decoration of plaster paintings,” Yassin said.
Meru’s tomb has been known since at least the mid-19th century, according to Poland’s Egyptian archaeological mission. Italian conservationists cleaned some of the murals in 1996.
The statement said some of the most prominent officials of the Kingdom of China were buried in North Asasif.
Above: An Egyptian employee works at Meru’s 4,000-year-old tomb. Photo courtesy of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities/Release via Reuters.
