Ti Court

Official reign of Niuserre, 2453-2422 BC.

    Ti, a Court official of high standing, a great landowner, and administrator of the royal funerary temples, lived at the beginning of the Fifth Dynasty. He is most famous for his magnificent tomb at Saqqara which was discovered by Mariette and which is one of the best examples of Old Kingdom non-royal funerary architecture. The tomb originally stood above ground and was designed to incorporate some of the features which appeared in the contemporary mansions occupied by the wealthy when they were alive; these included a portico, two great colonnaded halls, a passage and a store-chamber for possessions. The funerary offerings were presented in the great court, decorated with twelve square pillars, and a passage descended to give access to the second great chamber where Ti was buried and where his sarcophagus still remains.

    The mural reliefs in this tomb are amongst the finest examples of Egyptian art extant and they show a far wider range of activities than had hitherto been represented in the tomb context. The scenes show Ti as a great feudal landowner, supervising various activities on his estate, and they provide a vivid insight into the details of daily life at that time. The subjects include agricultural pursuits such as harvesting, market scenes, the fattening of geese and the feeding of cranes. These were intended to supply the deceased tomb-owner with an eternal food supply; Ti is also shown supervising ship-building activities, goldsmiths, carpenters, leather-workers and masons producing stone vessels, as well as receiving the accounts from his officials and inspecting the sacrifice of animals. He is also depicted enjoying various leisure pastimes such as boating in the marshes and, as a most important rite to ensure his continuation after death, Ti also receives the presentation of the funerary offerings. Throughout the scenes, his wife Neferhotep appears as his constant companion and as the joint beneficiary of the funerary goods.

BIBL. Steindorff, G. Das Grab des Ti. Leipzig: 1913; Epron, L. and Daumas, F. Le tombeau de Ti. Cairo: 1939.

Biographical Dictionary of Ancient Egypt by Rosalie and Antony E. David