594 EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES. 



Following the avenue of the Sphinx, the discoverer of the Serapeum 

 had contented himself Avith examining the level of the pavement and 

 had not pushed his diggings deeper. It was evident, however, that 

 the entire space under the avenue itself had not been visited since the 

 time of the building of the avenue of the Serapeum. By observing 

 the line of that road you notice that it passes about 40 meters north of 

 the pyramid of Teti and along the north facade. It is, however, 

 known that the royal tombs have always been surrounded by tombs of 

 high functionaries. It was therefore most likely that the avenue con- 

 tained the remains of funeral monuments of high personages of the 

 epoch of Teti. 



Inspired by these deductions, some days after our installation in 

 Mariette's house I began work to the northwest of the pyramid of Teti. 

 The avenue of the Sphinx was easily found again, and some meters 

 under the pavement there appeared the walls of an immense tomb, the 

 vastest that has thus far been recovered of the old empire. Several 

 months were necessary for the excavation of the 31 rooms comprising the 

 sepulchral temple of the family Meru-Ka. The rooms of Mera were 

 cleared one after the other, as well as the monumental steles, the statue 

 of the deceased, 2.30 meters high, and the sacrificial table. Then came 

 the rooms of his son, Teti Mera, and those of his Avife, Sech Secht, a 

 royal princess. 



Up to the date of the discovery of the tomb of Mera the most con- 

 siderable tomb of the old empire, excluding the pyramids, was that of 

 Teti, composed of two chambers, a stairway, and a court. The bas- 

 reliefs of that tomb were considered the grandest productions of the 

 old empire. 



The discovery of the mastaba of Mera proves that all the tombs of 

 personages of the earlier dynasties were constructions of the greatest 

 importance, and that the tomb of Teti is far from being an exception. 

 In that of Mera the walls are ornamented with sculptures and paint- 

 ings of great delicacy. The scenes are of infinite variety — games, rustic 

 employments, education, navigation, all kinds of occupations are 

 painted with that ingenuous grace which the artists of ancient Egypt 

 alone possessed. 



To the east of the tomb of Mera, but always beyond the avenue of 

 the Sphinx, my workmen discovered another monumental tomb, that 

 of a certain Kabi-n, five chambers of which were cleared. This temple 

 is far from being entirely excavated, but the exhaustion of my pecu- 

 niary resources in 1893 obliged me to suspend the researches. 



The painted bas-reliefs that ornament the walls of this mastaba are 

 the most remarkably executed of any that I know of the old empire. 

 Un fortunately, in spite of a very active watch day and night, vandals, who 

 remained undiscovered in spite of all inquiries made by our watchmen, 

 defaced some of these splendid works of art with a knife. This act of 

 irreparable vandalism ruined one of the best specimens of the art of 



