“I set April 23 [1927] as the final working day.
On the morning of the same day, my people opened the entrance to the rock chambers of Meresankh III."
George Andrew Reisner.
Queen Meresanh III was the daughter of the Queen of the IV Dynasty Hetepheres II (2723 to 2563 BC) and Prince Kawab, the granddaughter of the second King of the IV Dynasty of the Old Kingdom - Khufu and the wife of the 4th King of the IV Dynasty - Khafra. Meresanh died shortly after the end of Khafre's reign and was buried in a mastaba in the Giza necropolis (G7530). The inscriptions on both sides of the entrance to the tomb tell that the burial of the Queen was made 272 days after her death: “Queen Meresanh. Year 1, 1st month of the third season, 21st day, her Ka was at rest, and moved to Vaabet (place of embalming). Meresankh, wife of the King. Year 2, 2 nd month of the 2 nd season, the 18th, sent to her tomb."
Inscriptions dating the death and burial of Meresankh III.
Initially, the tomb was planned for Meresanh's mother, Queen Hetepheres II, but Meresanh's death followed unexpectedly, and Hetepheres donated her tomb and her granite sarcophagus for her daughter. The inscription on the sarcophagus reads: "I gave the sarcophagus to my daughter - Meresanh, who was loved."
The tomb of Meresanh III was discovered by archaeologist George Reisner on April 23, 1927, as his team was finishing the archaeological season in Giza and were ready to leave the excavation site. From Reisner's report: “On the very last day of the season the gangs were clearing the eastern face of the third mastaba in the fifth row from the west, when a doorway was unexpectedly revealed in the rock under the eastern wall of this mastaba. Later we found that two stairways led down from the floor of the street to the level of the doorway, which was about two meters below. Above the doorway were in scribed the titles of a princess and queen named Meresankh. As soon as the debris in the door way was photographed we cleared away enough of the sand at the top to crawl in; and getting our heads, one at a time, just inside the doorway,we saw a rock-cut offering chapel consisting of three rooms. The entrance to the main room was blocked by a cone of sand and stone, on the top of which we were lying. Our eyes were first startled by the vivid colors of the reliefs and inscriptions around the northern part of this large chamber. None of us had ever seen anything like it. „
Promotional video:
After the necessary preparatory work, subsequent excavations were resumed on May 4, 1927. the archaeological team of Harvard University and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts under the direction of George Reisner. Photo material from the excavation site is presented below.
Scheme of Mastaba Meresankh III.
The sarcophagus was located in an underground chamber, the vertical descent into which is indicated on the plan (b).
The sarcophagus, made of black granite, was removed from the mastaba and taken to the Cairo Museum of Antiquities on Tahrir. The dimensions of the sarcophagus are 2.16x0.87x0.80 m in height, and its lid is 18 cm thick. Our expedition in 2017 presents a photograph of the now empty chamber in which the sarcophagus was located.
Below is a 3D model of Mastaba made by Dr. Abdallah Diab.
Unfortunately, the contents of the sarcophagus and the mummy of the Queen were completely plundered by ancient robbers. The surviving remains were carefully examined by scientists anthropologists, after which it was concluded that Meresankh at the time of her death was 50-55 years old, her height was 152 cm.
Below is a limestone sculptural composition depicting Hetepheres II and Meresanh III, found in Mastaba during excavations. On April 1, 1937, the statue was donated to the Boston Museum by the Egyptian government.
Statue of Hetepheres III and Meresanh III. Boston Museum of Art.
Below are photographs of the approaches and interiors of Mastaba Meresanh III, taken by the ISIDA Project expedition in 2017.