Tomb of royal doctor/dentist/venom magician found at Saqqara

The richly painted tomb of a multi-tasking physician to Sixth Dynasty pharaoh Pepi II Neferkare (r. ca. 2278 B.C. – ca. 2212 B.C.) has been discovered in the necropolis of Saqqara. Hieroglyphic inscriptions in the tomb identify him as Teti Neb Fu and list his titles as chief palace doctor, chief dentist, director of medicinal plants and priest and magician of the goddess Serket. This is only the second “director of medicinal plants” title ever discovered from ancient Egypt, and “chief dentist” is also a very rarely found title. The number and importance of his titles suggest he was the top physician at the royal court and therefore the pharaoh’s personal doctor.

His role as priest of Serket also points to him having treated the pharaoh. Often depicted with a scorpion on her head, Serket had power over venomous animals and could protect people from snake or scorpion bites as well as inflict those bites on people she deemed in need of punishment. She was the mother of snake god Nehebkau who specifically protected pharaohs from snake bites. On top of his skills in herbal medicine, dentistry and general doctoring, Teti Neb Fu’s position as Serket’s magician means he was in charge of treating any bites from venomous creatures received by the pharaoh and the royal family.

The tomb was discovered by a joint French-Swiss archaeological mission in the southern sector of the Saqqara archaeological zone where the tombs of Old Kingdom senior statesmen are located. It is a mastaba, a rectangular mudbrick or limestone tomb with a flat roof and sloping sides, of a type known as an “oven tomb,” characterized by a vaulted ceiling and accessed by a burial shaft north of the entrance. The team was clearing the burial shaft when they encountered a magnificent false door funerary stele with an inscription naming the doctor Teti Neb Fu. The stele did not necessarily belong to the tomb they were digging towards, however. These tombs were extensively looted, and it could well have been displaced thousands of years ago.

When they reached the entrance to the burial chamber, they uncovered a limestone lintel inscribed with large painted hieroglyphs that repeated the name and title of Teti Neb Fu, confirming the stele was indeed the grave marker for this exact tomb. Once cleared, the burial chamber revealed itself to be covered with vividly painted carvings on all three walls. The two long walls and short back wall are decorated with a full panoply of funerary offerings so tidily arrayed they look like a pictographic inventory spreadsheet, two elaborate false doors painted in vertical and horizontal sections of multiple colors and patterns on opposing walls, jewelry, all kinds of containers and vessels. Even the rock-cut ceiling was painted in a remarkably realistic red granite effect.

The tomb owner’s name and titles were carved onto the center of the faux granite ceiling and were also found on one of the walls. The tomb had been looted in antiquity, but the doctor’s stone coffin was still inside the tomb and it was carved with hieroglyphic inscriptions bearing his name and titles. Teti Neb Fu’s remains were not found, lost to the depredations of looters along with all of his grave goods, leaving the inscriptions and paintings to testify to his life and many fine accomplishments.