At a few yards distant from the chambers full of offerings is a line of private graves almost surrounding the royal tomb.  This line has an interruption at the south end of the west side similar to the interruption of the retaining wall of the tomb of Zet at that quarter.  It seems, therefore, that the funeral approached it from that direction.

The chamber of the tomb of Merneit shows signs of burning on both the walls and the floor.  A small piece of wood yet remaining indicates that it also had a wooden floor like the other tombs.  Against the walls stand pilasters of brick; and, although these are not at present more than a quarter of the whole height of the wall, they originally reached to the top.  These pilasters are entirely additions to the first building; they stand against the plastering and upon a loose layer of sand and pebbles about four inches thick.  Thus it is clear that they belonged to the subsequent stage of the fitting of a roof to the chamber.  The holes that are shown in the floor are apparently connected with the construction, as they are not in the mid-line where pillars are likely.  At the edge of chamber No. 2 is a cast of plaited palm-leaf matting on the mud mortar above this level, and the bricks are set back irregularly.  This shows the mode of finishing off the roof of this tomb.

[Illustration:  377.jpg PLANS OF THE TOMBS OF DEN-SETUI AND OTHERS]

From the position of the tomb of Den-Setui, it is seen naturally to follow the building of the tombs of Zet and Merneit.  It is surrounded by rows of small chambers for offerings, and for the burial of domestics.  The king’s tomb appears to have contained a large number of tablets of ivory and ebony, for fragments of eighteen were found, and two others are known, making in all twenty tablets from this one tomb.  The inscriptions on stone vases are, however, not more frequent than in previous reigns.  This tomb appears to have been one of the most costly and sumptuous.  The astonishing feature of this chamber is the granite pavement, such considerable use of granite being quite unknown until the step pyramid of Saqqara early in the third dynasty.  At the south-west corner is a strange annex.  A stairway leads down from the west and then turns to the north.  At the foot of the first flight of steps is a space for inserting planks and brickwork to close the chamber, like the blocking of the door of the tomb of Azab.1 This small chamber was therefore intended to be closed.  Whether this chamber was for the burial of one of the royal family, or for the deposit of offerings, it is difficult to determine.  Of the various rows of graves around the great tomb there is nothing to record in detail.  An ebony tablet, presumably of the time of Den, found among the first dynasty tombs, represents a scene in which a king is dancing before Osiris, the god being seated in his shrine.  This tablet is the earliest example of those pictorial records of a religious ceremony which, as we now know, was continued almost without change from the first dynasty to the thirty-third.  It is interesting to note on this engraving that the king is represented with the hap and a short stick instead of the oar.