Tomb No. 3507_ from the reign of Den

Tomb No. 3507 from the reign of Den

 (Possibly belonging to Queen Herneith)

Though Queen Herneith was probably a wife of Djer, she may have died during the early reign of Den. Though dated to the same reign as Tomb No. 3035, it is probably an earlier example, lacking the stairway found in that tomb. her tomb was the last mastaba of the 1st Dynasty the Emery cleared near the eastern escarpment of the necropolis.

The substructure of this tomb consists of a pit, measuring 5.25 by 3.15 meters and dug to a depth of 4.75 meters, with a ramp on its north side and two roofs. The lower roof was built 2.5 meters from the bottom of the pit, while the upper one is only just above ground level. The southern part of the lower roof has two rock-cut pilasters on which a limestone lintel was laid. The lintel is decorated with a row of hammered out, crouching lions.

This lintel supports a stone roof covering the southern part of the burial chamber where pottery and stone vessels were found. In the northern part of the burial chamber the remains of a wooden coffin were found, along with some human bones. Set into small brick niches, small dishes of food, mostly ox bones, were laid out around the coffin. There were also the remains of jewelry made of Faience, Lapis Lazuli, Carnelian and gold, as well as broken bracelets of ivory and stone. Other items included gaming pieces and flint. Various seal impressions contained the name of Den as well as that of Her-Neith.

The superstructure of this mastaba is the best preserved of all in this group, at some points reaching a height of 2.5 meters. The interior of the superstructure is divided into 29 chambers by crossing walls about .65 meters thick. As with several other tombs of the 1st Dynasty, the facade was niched and there is a low bench around it, upon which was placed clay bull's heads with real horns.

The tomb was protected by an enclosure wall with a gateway measuring 1.65 meters wide, near the southern end of the eastern section. Between the enclosure wall and the mastaba the ground was paved in mud painted green. Buried beneath this entrance at a depth of .65 meters, Emery excavated the tomb of a saluki dog which acted as the guardian of Hernieth's sepulcher. There were no other subsidiary tombs found around the mastaba.