Page 32 - آثار مصر الفرعونية الجزء الأول
P. 32
and columns were re-used in later monuments (especially in the
Delta) and the temple was also invaded by large shaft tombs of
the Late Period, adding to its destruction. A small satellite
pyramid was situated on the southern side of the mortuary
temple, inside the enclosure wall.
On the southern side of the pyramid is part of an inscription
by Khaemwaset, son of Ramssses II and priest of Heliopolis,
who restored many of the Old Kingdom monuments, including
those of Unas, 1000 years after they were built. To the north-east
of the pyramid, two queens of Unas, Nebet and khenut, were
buried in mastaba tombs.
A causeway links Unas's mortuary temple to his valley
temple and must have been very impressive in its time. It was
excavated by Selim Hassan in 1937 and is now the best surviving
pyramid causeway. It consisted of a covered passageway, 720,
long, its interior surfaces decorated with high quality reliefs
depicting a range of colourful scenes. The walls were lit by a slit
in the roof of the causeway which ran along the whole of its
length. The theme of decoration on the causeway walls
progresses from the living world in the east to the land of the
dead in the west. It depicts scenes such as the transportation of
stone from Aswan, hunting scenes (including giraffes, lions and
leopards), agriculture, metalworking and battle scenes, as well ad
royal rituals and vignettes from heb-sed ceremonies. On haunting
32