Pyramid of Pepi I

Mortuary complex

Old Kingdom mortuary complexes consisted of five essential components: (1) a valley temple; (2) a causeway; (3) a pyramid, or mortuary, temple; (4) a cult, or satellite, pyramid; and (5) the main pyramid. Pepi I's complex comprises: a main pyramid constructed of six steps of limestone encased in fine white limestone; a mortuary temple that near exactly replicates those of his predecessors, with a cult pyramid to its south; and a valley temple and causeway that have not been excavated. The name of Pepi I's pyramid complex, Men-nefer-Pepi, was adopted as the name of the capital city of Egypt, Men-nefer (Memphis).

Main pyramid

The pyramid was constructed in the same fashion as others since Djedkare Isesi's reign: a core was built six steps high using small limestone blocks bound together with clay mortar, and then encased with fine white limestone blocks. The limestone casing has been stripped away for the production of lime, and is intact only at the lowest steps. A fragmentary inscription found by MAFS in 1993 belonging to Khaemwaset, High Priest of Memphis and son of Ramesses II, from the Nineteenth Dynasty indicates that the pyramid was in relatively good condition at this time, needing only minor improvements.

The pyramid is now destroyed, and original dimensions are estimates. The length of the base of the pyramid was 78.75 m (258 ft; 150 cu), converging towards the apex at ~53° giving the pyramid a peak 52.5 m (172 ft; 100 cu) high on completion. The remaining ruins leave a mound about 12 m (39 ft; 23 cu) tall, with a pit in its centre dug by stone robbers.

Substructure

A north chapel once stood over the entrance corridor on the north face of the pyramid. This leads into a descending corridor built from limestone. The corridor terminates at a vestibule that leads into the horizontal passage. Midway along the horizontal passage is the main barrier of three pink granite portcullises. The passage is further reinforced with granite in three places. The layout of the chambers in Pepi I's pyramid are the same as those in his predecessor's pyramids: the antechamber sits on the pyramid's vertical axis, with a room containing three recesses – called the serdab – to its east, and the burial chamber to its west. The ante- and burial- chambers had gabled roofs made from limestone blocks set three layers deep with sixteen blocks in each layer. The ceiling is estimated to have weighed around five thousand tons.

The ceiling was painted with white stars, oriented to the west, against a black background. A sarcophagus was found on the west wall of the burial chamber; though examination indicates that this was a substitute sarcophagus, not the original. Labrousse suggests that the original was either damaged during transportation, or otherwise contained flaws that were later revealed. MAFS made a rare discovery while conducting restorative work in the chamber: a pink granite canopic chest, sunk into a niche at the foot of the sarcophagus, along with a bundle of viscera, once contained inside an alabaster jar and retaining its shape, presumed to belong to the king. The provenance of a mummy fragment and fine linen wrappings found in the burial chamber are unknown, but are hypothesized to belong to Pepi I. Other components of burial equipment found in the chamber are: fragments of canopic vessels made from yellowish alabaster; a sandal made from reddish, possibly sycamore, wood; a small flint knife; some pleated linen; and a fragment of linen bearing the inscription "Linen for the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, may he live forever".

The walls of Pepi I's antechamber, burial chamber, and corridor were inscribed with vertical columns of green painted hieroglyphic text. The corridor texts in Pepi I's pyramid are the most extensive, covering the whole horizontal passage, the vestibule, and even a section of the descending corridor. The serdab was left uninscribed, as it had been in Unas' and Teti's pyramid.

Pyramid Texts of Pepi I

The Pyramid Texts originally appeared in the Pyramid of Unas at the end of the Fifth Dynasty initiating a tradition that carried on in the pyramids of the kings and queens of the Sixth through Eighth Dynasty, until the end of the Old Kingdom. The texts in Pepi I's pyramid, comprising 2,263 columns and lines of text, are the most extensive such corpus of texts from the Old Kingdom. Though the tradition of writing pyramid texts had started in Unas' pyramid, they were originally discovered in Pepi I's pyramid in 1880.

Ancient Egyptian belief held that the individual consisted of three basic parts; the body, the ka, and the ba. When the person died, the ka would separate from the body and return to the gods from where it had come, while the ba remained with the body. The body of the individual, interred in the burial chamber, never physically left; but the ba, awakened, released itself from the body and began its journey toward new life. Significant to this journey was the Akhet: the horizon, a junction between the earth, the sky, and the Duat. To ancient Egyptians, the Akhet was the place from where the sun rose, and so symbolised a place of birth or resurrection. In the texts, the king is called upon to transform into an akh in the Akhet. The akh, literally "effective being", was the resurrected form of the deceased, attained through individual action and ritual performance. If the deceased failed to complete the transformation, they became mutu, that is "the dead". The function of the texts, in congruence with all funerary literature, was to enable the reunion of the ruler's ba and ka leading to the transformation into an akh, and to secure eternal life among the gods in the sky.

Barring the lower section of the western end of the chamber, which is painted in the royal palace facade motif, all four walls of Pepi I's burial chamber were covered in Pyramid Texts. The west wall and gable of Pepi I's burial chamber were inscribed with texts concerned with two themes. The first present Horus in the role of the head-liturgist, and the second involve the presentation of Osiris' corpse to his mother, Nut. These texts are sakhu, meaning "that which makes one into an akh" and serve the "protection, reconstitution, and transfiguration of the king in his sarcophagus". They are flanked – predominantly on the west end of the north wall, but also by two texts in a small register on the west end of the south wall – by texts concerned with the role of Osiris' sisters Isis and Nephthys. On the west end of the south wall, beneath the texts of Isis and Nephythys, are a set of texts dealing with the theme of the king's ascent to the sky.

The remainder of the north wall of the burial chamber is composed of the Offering and Insignia Rituals. Unique to Pepi I's pyramid, the two rituals are clearly delineated in separate registers. The remainder of the south wall of the burial chamber is inscribed with the Resurrection Ritual; these deal with the king's relationship with the gods and his departure from his tomb. Pepi I's version of the ritual begins with a unique, but near entirely lost, spell. Finally, the east wall and gable are inscribed with texts dominated by the relationship between "the ritualist" – in Pepi I's case his son – and Pepi I, and contain occasional personal spells. In the passageway between the burial- and ante- chambers, are a set of four spells inscribed on the north and south walls.

Go back, be far away! Let Horus respect me and Seth protect me.
Go back, be far away! Let Osiris respect me and Kherti protect me.
Go back, be far away! Let Isis respect me and Nephthys protect me.
Be far overhead! Let Eyes-Forward respect me and Thoth protect me.
Go back, be far away! Let those of the nighttime respect me and those
in old age protect me.
[...]
Should Isis try to come in that bad coming of hers, don’t open your
arms to her, but let there be said to her her identity of Putrid
Crotch, (and say): "Barred! Go to the houses of Manu! Enough! Go
to Hedjbet, to where you will be beaten!"
[...]
He who shall give his finger against this pyramid and this god's
enclosure of Pepi and of his ka, he has given his finger against
Horus’s Enclosure in the Cool Waters. Nephthys shall traverse for
him every place of his [father] Geb. His case has been heard by the
Ennead and he has nothing, he has no house. He is one accursed, he
is one who eats his own body.
– Pyramid Text 534

The west and south walls of the antechamber are inscribed with texts whose core theme revolves around the transition from the human to the celestial realm. The north wall contains two groups of texts: those concerning the king's ascent to the sky, which don't otherwise appear in the antechamber of other pyramids, and those concerned with the king's transformation into Horus. The east wall of the antechamber bears spells that protect and provide for the king. The passage into the serdab is inscribed with the Morning Ritual, but the serdab itself was left uninscribed.

The texts of the horizontal corridor are split into three sections. Their dominant theme is the king's ascent into the sky, alongside other personal texts, a protective spell for the tomb, and a "final imprecation against the guardian of the door" in the north-east section. The vestibule is inscribed on the south, west and east walls. The texts of the south wall generally appear to have been intended to be performed on a statue of the king, with some additional spells allowing the king to open the vestibule's doors. The west and east walls are concerned primarily with the king's ability to pass into and out of the tomb. The north wall remained uninscribed.

Pepi I's descending passage/ascending corridor appears to be the only one to have been inscribed with Pyramid Texts. These are split into two sections, but their full contents are unknown due to the state of damage to the walls. The south end of the west wall has texts relating to the king joining Re in the sky, as does the north end of the east wall, which also has spells for the perpetuation of the king's cult. The south end of the east wall contains provisioning texts. The north end of the west wall has more spells concerned with the king's ascent to the sky.

Valley temple, causeway and pyramid town

The valley temple, pyramid town, and the causeway, except for a few metres near to the mortuary temple, have not yet been excavated.

Mortuary temple

The mortuary temple has been severely damaged by stone thieves who harvested the limestone used in its construction for lime production, leaving behind a lime furnace that they had set up in the temple grounds. Despite the state of the temple, the archaeological work of MAFS has allowed the plan and features of the temple to be reconstructed. The temple was laid out according to a standard plan that is near exactly like the temples of Djedkare Isesi, Unas, and Teti.

The temple had an entrance hall leading into an open columned courtyard. The hall was flanked by storage magazines to the north and south. The inner temple contained a chapel with five statue niches. It also contained an offering hall and other core chambers. Limestone statues of kneeling captives with hands tied behind their backs were discovered in the south-western section of the inner temple, where they were planned to be thrown into a lime furnace. The statues were broken at the neck and waist. Miroslav Verner states that these statues once lined open columned courtyard, and possibly also the entrance hall, where they served to ward off anyone who threatened the tomb. Jean-Philippe Lauer postulates that the statues once lined the causeway representing the subjugated people of the north and south. Richard Wilkinson notes that the original location of these statues is unknown.

The antichambre carée in Pepi I's temple has been near totally destroyed. An entrance door on its east side has been identified on the basis of granite remains. The room originally had a roof 6.29 m (20.6 ft; 12.00 cu) high. Discoveries inside the room include sections of pavement along with the base of the central column which remained in situ in the chamber's centre. The typical granite column had been replaced with an octagonal pillar. Fragments of the relief decoration were recovered by Labrousse.

Cult pyramid

The cult pyramid is in a better state of preservation than the mortuary temple. Fragments of statues, stelae and offering tables indicate the continuation of the funerary cult into the Middle Kingdom. In spite of this, the pyramid was falling into ruin by the New Kingdom.

The purpose of the cult pyramid remains unclear. It had a burial chamber but was not used for burials, and instead appears to have been a purely symbolic structure. It may have hosted the pharaoh's ka, or a miniature statue of the king. It may have been used for ritual performances centering around the burial and resurrection of the ka spirit during the Sed festival.

Queens' pyramids and other significant structures

The most significant finds at Pepi I's complex are the queens' pyramids. As of 2017, a total of nine pyramids have been discovered in an area to the south-west of Pepi I's pyramid. These pyramids belong to: Nebuunet, Inenek-Inti, Meritites IV, Ankhesenpepi II and Ankhesenpepi III, Mehaa with a tomb belonging to her son Hornetjerikhet to its north, Behenu, Reherishefnakht and one anonymous.

Pyramid of Nebuunet

Nebuunet was a wife of Pepi I, buried in a pyramid adjacent to his. The complex is the easternmost one so far discovered, and contains a ruined pyramid and small mortuary temple. The pyramid, constructed from limestone, had a base length of about 20.96 m (68.8 ft; 40.00 cu) and a peak height of 21 m (69 ft; 40 cu). Its entrance is set into the pavement of the north chapel and leads into a descending corridor. This transitions into a horizontal passage through a faux vestibule. A single granite portcullis guarded the burial chamber, which was located south of the pyramid's vertical axis. The substructure has the same lay-out as Inenek-Inti's pyramid, with the distinction that her sarcophagus was made of pink granite, rather than greywacke. East of the burial chamber was the serdab which contained fragments of funerary equipment including a cylindrical wooden weight and wooden ostrich feather, potentially representing the feathers of Maat.

The complex is entered through a limestone door facing Pepi I's pyramid. The door has near wholly been reassembled from rediscovered components. Each doorjamb has a complete image of the queen depicting her as a slender woman, wearing a wig that frames her face, equipped with a scabbard and a large necklace dangling around her neck. In one hand she holds a lotus flower breathing in its scent, while the other hangs behind her. Her name and title are inscribed on the doorjambs: "the wife of the king, his beloved, Nebuunet" (French: l'épouse du roi, son aimée, Noubounet). On the upper part of the jamb, beneath the hieroglyph for sky, a royal falcon with spread wings clutches an ankh pointed at a cartouche bearing Pepi I's name, itself part of a unit of three columns of text.

The limestone door of the complex leads into an antechamber from which the courtyard surrounding the pyramid, and a small mortuary temple of the east face of the pyramid, could be accessed. The temple is in complete ruins, except for the offering hall and a section of wall about 1 m (3.3 ft) thick, which have been better preserved. North of the offering hall was a chapel with three niches. Inside the hall, fragments of sculptures depict the queen on a podium with lions facing a goddess holding a was scepter and the ankh sign. Very little of the relief decoration of the temple has been preserved.

Pyramid of Inenek-Inti

Inenek-Inti was a wife and vizier of Pepi I, buried in a pyramid adjacent to his. The pyramid had a base length of 21 m (69 ft; 40 cu), converging towards the apex at ratio of 1:2 to a peak height of 21 m (69 ft; 40 cu). The base area of Inenek-Inti's pyramid is thus 1/14th that of Pepi I's pyramid, and its volume 1/10th. In contrast, both her pyramid and its mortuary temple are larger than that belonging to Nebuunet to the east. Inenek-Inti's pyramid is enclosed by a perimeter wall 1.5 m (4.9 ft) thick.

Entrance into the pyramid is gained at a small entrance chapel on its north face. The entry leads into a short descending passage which terminates at a vestibule opening onto the main corridor. The corridor, guarded by a single granite portcullis, leads towards the burial chamber under the pyramid's vertical axis. To the east of the burial chamber is a serdab. On the west side of the burial chamber is a greywacke sarcophagus. The chamber is in ruins, and only fragments of funerary equipment have been preserved: pieces of stone hardware in various colours, and containers with limestone covers meant to protect funerary provisions.

The mortuary temple of the complex is cramped and spreads along the north, east and south sides of the pyramid. Two granite pillars facing north towards the king's pyramid serve as the door into the temple. The pillars are engraved with Inenek-Inti's name, and the queen depicted seated, breathing in the scent of a lotus flower. Two obelisks of gray limestone are present here which depict the queen standing. These too are engraved with her name, one with Inenek and one with Inti. They also bear her titles. The outer temple consists of a hall and a pillared courtyard in the north-east. South of the courtyard, on the east face, were the offering hall and a room containing three statue niches. A group of storerooms flanked these to the north and south. In the south-east corner, was a small cult pyramid. The cult pyramid had a base length of 6 m (20 ft; 11 cu).

Western pyramid

The identity of this pyramid's owner is preserved on an obelisk in front of her pyramid only as "the eldest daughter of the king". This was the first Queen's pyramid unearthed by MAFS in 1988. The pyramid had a base length of around 20 m (66 ft; 38 cu), the same as Nebuunet's, but the ruins stand a paltry 3 m (9.8 ft; 5.7 cu) tall. Entry into the substructure is gained on the north face. The burial chamber is located under the vertical axis of the pyramid. The location of the serdab is unusual, being to the south of the burial chamber instead of east. Substantial remains of funerary equipment were found inside, but no name: wooden weights and ostrich feathers, copper fish hooks, and fired-clay vessels. It has a hastily built mortuary temple, with an offering hall and a room with two statue niches. Relief fragments discovered depict scenes of processions and estates, along with an incomplete cartouche of Pepi I's name.

Pyramid of Meritites IV

Meritites IV was a wife of Pepi I, or Pepi II. Her pyramid lies to the south of the anonymous "Western pyramid". It has a base length of 21 m (69 ft; 40 cu) and its substructure is decorated with the titulary of the queen painted halfway up the chamber walls. During the excavation, wood fragments, likely from a box or canopic chest, were discovered with formulas from the Pyramid Texts painted on them. Her identity, image and titles were recorded on in a courtyard with five pillars. In 2007, the pyramid of Meretites IV had been completely restored and a greywacke monolith pyramid replaced. The complex is accessed from the north-east via a long corridor linked off the street which leads into the courtyard. West of the courtyard is the north side of the pyramid. South of the courtyard is the inner temple. Her complex is surrounded by the pyramids of Ankhesenpepi II to the west, Inenek-Inti to the east, and the Western pyramid to the north.

Pyramid of Ankhesenpepi II

Ankhesenpepi II was a wife of Pepi I and mother to Pepi II. Her pyramid lies south-west of Meritites IV's pyramid, at the south-western corner of the complex. With a base length of 31.4 m (103 ft; 59.9 cu), it is the largest pyramid in the complex after the pyramid of Pepi I. The outer, or public, mortuary temple was built on a north–south axis. To the west are a series of twenty-one storerooms arranged in a tooth-comb fashion, and to the south is a large courtyard with two doors. The south-east door leads to the inner, or private, template. The south-west door leads to the north face of the pyramid.

On the north face of the pyramid, remnants of a 4.2 metres (14 ft; 8.0 cu) wide north chapel were found. The substructure to the pyramid was discovered filled with sand and debris, but once cleared revealed a large 7.34 m (24.1 ft; 14.01 cu) (east-west) by 3.15 m (10.3 ft; 6.01 cu) (north-south) burial chamber. To the east was an uninscribed serdab. The burial chamber of Akhesenpepi II's pyramid contains a massive, carefully dressed basalt sarcophagus. The body of the sarcophagus is 2.84 m (9.3 ft) long by 1.27 m (4.2 ft) wide. It had a lid, found fragmented into four pieces, that appears to have been made from a different material to the sarcophagus body. The queen's titulary appear on the sarcophagus and lid identifying her as the mother of the king, and daughter of Geb and Nut. Bone fragments of the arm, leg and foot were recovered during evacuation of the sarcophagus. These were identified as belonging to a mature adult female with osteoarthritis. The walls of the substructure contain Pyramid Texts.

In the mortuary temple of Ankhesenpepi II's funerary monument, a decorative block bearing the cartouches of Pepi I, Pepi II and Merenre I was discovered in 1998. The first two cartouches were easily explained: Pepi I was the husband of Ankhesenpepi II, and Pepi II was her son. The third, that of Mererenre I, remained unexplained until a damaged second decorative block was found in the pillared courtyard a year later. It bore the titles of Queen Ankhesenpepi II and identified her as the wife of Merenre I. According to Labrousse, Ankhesenpepi II remarried to Merenre I, her nephew, after the death of Pepi I.

Pyramid of Ankhesenpepi III

Ankhesenpepi III was a daughter of Merenre I Nemtyemsaf and a wife of Pepi II. Her pyramid is located north of Ankhesenpepi II's pyramid, and south-west of Mehaa's. Her pyramid complex is the smallest in Pepi I's greater complex. Its size constrained by the boundary of the complex to the west, Ankhesenpepi II's mortuary temple to the south and east, and an esplanade to the north that likely contained worship facilities. The pyramid has a base length of 15.72 m (51.6 ft; 30.00 cu). The complex is entered at the north-east corner of the north wall and is preceded by two obelisks. On the east face of the pyramid is the mortuary temple which has been reduced to an intimate temple consisting of two rooms leading to the offering hall. South-east of the pyramid is a small courtyard which hosts a cult pyramid in its center. Fragments of a decree from Pepi II honouring Ankhesenpepi III were found north of the complex's enclosure wall.

The burial chamber of the pyramid is badly damaged. It contains a sarcophagus made from a single sandstone block buried in the floor, with a lid of roughly cut granite. The walls around the sarcophagus have been painted to represent the royal palace facade. The sarcophagus is inscribed with Ankhesenpepi III's name and titles, and contained bone fragments.

In the western part of the funerary complex, a mudbrick superstructure was uncovered. A shaft by the structure led to a vaulted chamber, through which a decorated limestone burial chamber could be accessed. The burial appears to date to the First Intermediate Period. The owner of the burial is Ankhnes, a priestess of Hathor of Ankhesenpepi III. Alongside the burial, a 38 cm (15 in) decorative wooden statuette of the subject and five decorated wooden mirror handles were recovered.

Pyramid of Mehaa and Hornetjerikhet's tomb

Mehaa was a wife of Pepi I. She was buried in a pyramid at the end of "Queen's street" (French: rue de reines). Before the pyramid is a building, which bears the name and image of Prince Hornetjerikhet, a son of Pepi I.

Pyramid of Behenu

Behenu was a wife of Pepi I or Pepi II. In 2007, the remains of her pyramid were uncovered. The pyramid is located at the western end of the complex, directly north of Mehaa's pyramid. It has a base length of 26.2 m (86 ft; 50.0 cu), making it the second-largest Queens' pyramid in the necropolis after that of Ankhesenpepy II. Fragments found in the mortuary temple identified the owner, Behenu. The name matches fragments of Pyramid Texts previously found around the tomb of Reherishefnakht. These fragments must have originated from the chambers of her pyramid. The walls surrounding the sarcophagus in the burial chamber were adorned with a black and red painted rendition of the royal palace facade and text inscribed above. Fragments of green paint have been retained on some of the inscribed hieroglyphs, with black and red painted lines separating vertical registers.

The enclosure to the complex is entered near the north-east corner off a north–south street. The doorway leads into a vestibule with a door to the courtyard in its north-western corner. The courtyard has two doorways. The first, in the south-east leads to a vestibule with two connecting rooms. To the north is a long windowless vestibule. To the west are a series of ten store-rooms. A second door in the north-west of the courtyard leads into the inner, or private, temple. Here a series of rooms can be accessed from a north–south running passage including: a windowless room, the statue chapel and the offering hall. At the south-east corner of the pyramid is a small courtyard with a cult pyramid at its center. The cult pyramid has a base length of 5.5 m (18 ft; 10.5 cu).

In the debris of the temple, which bore marks of destruction and restoration, a preserved statuette head of Behenu wearing a wig and with in-laid eyes was found. An offering table discovered in the vicinity of Behenu's monument has identified a daughter of Behenu named Hapi.

Pyramid of Reherishefnakht

In 2004, a pyramid belonging to an individual named Reherishefnakht was discovered in the complex of Pepi I's pyramid. The pyramid likely dates to the end of the Eleventh Dynasty, and is thus the oldest known pyramid not built for a member of the royal family. It has a base length of 13.12 m (43.0 ft; 25.04 cu) made from limestone blocks presumably scavenged from nearby structures. Remnants of stelae, offering tables, door stops and lintel, many of which bear names were found in the core of the pyramid. One significant find is the name of a previously unknown wife of Pepi I, Sebutet. The pyramid substructure contains both Pyramid Texts and Coffin Texts, thus representing a link between the Old Kingdom and Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The substructure has a simple design: from the north, a shaft leads to the burial chamber covered with stone slabs, one of which bears Reherishefnakht's name. The chamber was richly decorated, and contained Pyramid Texts 214–217 and Coffin Text 335. No other buildings associated with pyramid complexes were built, and no burial for a wife of Reherishefnakht was found.