Throughout most of the mastaba, Mereruka’s wife is shown as a tiny, doll-like figure next to her husband. She is usually smelling a lotus flower, her hand curled around his leg or his shoulder.

Lotus flowers are common symbols in egyptian art. The four sons of Horus are shown emerging from a lotus flower, and lotus buds and blooms top the pillars in the great temples

Most of the interior is covered in scenes of hunting and fishing and daily life, with scenes of Mereruka and his family are shown among the scenes of offerings and the making of jewelry and other treasures. We took far too many pictures of the interior the tomb, mostly because it was all so new to us — there are better examples of many of the scenes here, but there is something magical about the first time you can walk into a small stone room and actually touch the reliefs.