Qakare
Ibi was buried in a small pyramid at Saqqara-South. It was discovered by
Karl Richard Lepsius
in the 19th century and excavated during the 1930s
by
Gustave Jéquier. Ibi's pyramid is the last ever built in Saqqara,
located to the northeast of Shepseskaf's tomb and near the causeway of
the pyramid of Pepi II. It is very similar in plan, dimensions and
decorations to the pyramids of the queens of Pepi II, the last great
pharaoh of the Old Kingdom. Consequently it was proposed that the
pyramid was originally that of Ankhnespepi IV, a wife of Pepi II, and
was only later appropriated by Ibi. Adjacent to the pyramid is a small
chapel where the funerary cult took place. No trace of a causeway nor of
a valley temple has been found to this day, and it is likely that there
never was any.
Ibi's pyramid is not oriented to any cardinal point, being rather on a
northwest–southeast axis. The edifice would have been around 31.5 metres
(103 ft) large and 21 metres (69 ft) high with a slope of 53°7′ at the
time of its construction. The core of the pyramid was built with
limestone blocks of local origin, most of which are now gone, probably
reused in later constructions. As a result, the monument appears today
as a 3m high heap of mud and limestone chips in the sands of Saqqara. On
some of the remaining blocks, inscriptions in red ink were found
mentioning a Chief of the Libyans, the meaning of which is unclear.
Interestingly, it seems that even though the foundations for the outer
casing of the pyramid were led, the casing itself was never mounted.
On the north side of the edifice, Jéquier found a 8 metres (26 ft) long
limestone-clad corridor leading down with an inclination of 25° to a
large granite portcullis. Behind this portcullis lay the king's burial
chamber. Both the corridor and the walls of the burial chamber were
inscribed with the last known instance of the Pyramid Texts. The texts
seem to have been directly inscribed for Ibi rather than appropriated by
him. Jéquier judged the quality of the inscriptions as "very average".
Furthermore, the placement of the utterances appears relatively
indiscriminate. The burial chamber's ceiling was flat and decorated with
stars. It was probably made of a single 5 metres (16 ft) long block of
Tura limestone now missing. Today a large block of concrete protects the
chamber. On the west side of the burial chamber is a false door and a
huge granite block on which once stood the sarcophagus of the king. On
the east side there is a serdab for the statue of the Ka of the deceased.
Adjacent to the east side of the pyramid is a small
mudbrick chapel which served as temple for the cult of the dead king.
The entrance of the chapel is located on its north side. Inside the
temple, immediately against the pyramid wall is an offering hall where
Jequier found a stone washbasin as well as stele or a false door of
which only the foundations remain. An alabaster tray and obsidian
mortars tools were also discovered there. The south part of the chapel
is occupied by magazine rooms. |