Abstract
During the autumn excavation season of 2013, archaeological work in the tomb complex of princess Sheretnebty (AS 68) continued. A false door was found in the filling of shaft 8 in Sheretnebty's courtyard.
The limestone stela (75 x 49 x 11 cm) belonged to a certain Hetepuni, a hem-netjer-priest of Khentytjenenet, wab-priest of the two hundred of the pyramid Men-nefer-Meryre (Pepi I), great wab-priest and overseer of the department of tenant-landholders of the Great House. The entire decoration of the false door - the hieroglyphic inscriptions, figural representation, lines and a hint of a wooden door with a crossbar in the central niche - was painted in black.
At first glance the execution of the hieroglyphs looks neat and calligraphic; a further examination has revealed a substitution of some similarly looking signs. Originally, the whole surface of the stela had been whitewashed.
At least 15 layers of white coating, which indicate repeated whitewashing, were observed. The length of time this activity had been taking place can be estimated at 20 to 60 years.
It is probable that the false door was originally placed above the shaft into which it was thrown. A man 40-60 years old was buried in a rectangular burial pit in the burial niche of this shaft.
Whereas no remains of burial equipment were found in the burial niche, the filling of the shaft contained fragments of pottery vessels. The majority of analogies to particular vessels are associated with the Sixth Dynasty, especially with Pepi I, however some of them have survived until the reign of Pepi II.
Following its analysis, Hetepuni's false door, whose features date it to the late Sixth Dynasty or the First Intermediate Period, illustrates not only the development at the Abusir necropolis but also serves as a probe into one of the burial complexes at Abusir South, i.e. the tomb cluster called the complex of princess Sheretnebty.