The Tomb of Akhethetep (French: Mastaba d'Akhethétep), also Tomb or Mastaba of Akhethotep, is a tomb complex that was built and completed at different times in Saqqarah, Giza, Egypt. It is the tomb of Akhethotep, a royal official, located near the western part of the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep Tjefi, grandson of Ptahhotep, were senior court officials during the rules of Djedkare(2414-2375 BC) and Unas (Wenis), towards the end of the 5th dynasty (2494 to 2345 BC).[1][2][3] The tomb was discovered in 1903 by Georges Aaron Bénédite and two female colleagues, Miss Petrie and Miss Murray. Akhethotep was a high dignitary of Ancient Egypt who lived during the Fifth Dynasty around 2400 BC and directed its construction initially.[4] He was a son of Peseshet.[5][6] Bénédite excavated the tomb and reassembled it in the Louvre in Paris. One of the depictions on the wall of the tomb was Akhethotep directing the building of the tomb. A sketch plan dated 1940 prepared by Abd El-Salam Mohammed Hussein, architect of the Department of Antiquities, based on his explorations near the causeway of King Unas, shows a group of tombs located about 190–220 metres (620–720 ft) away from the pyramid of Unas, which among others included the tomb of Akhethotep. The tombs were found in a depression about 10 metres (33 ft) below a wall that protected the causeway.[7]
