The Tomb of Unisankh at Saqqara and Chicago

Unisankh is broadly considered to have been son of Unis, the last king of the Fifth Dynasty of the ancient Egypt. His tomb was discovered by James E. Quibell in 1908 and its chapel was sold to the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago. Due to the geographical division of Unisankh’s tomb, it has not been published yet. The present publication aims at filling this gap putting together the documentation assembled in 1970s and 1980s by the Hanover Group led by Peter Munroe and outcomes of documentation works recently carried out by the author in the Field Museum. Unisankh’s tomb dates to the early reign of Unis and represents a remarkable phase in the development of the class of non-royal, large, multi-roomed mastabas belonging to the highest officials of the late Old Kingdom. The preserved information provided by the tomb allows us to conclude that Unisankh was a high official at the court of Unis who died in the early part of the king´s reign at the age of 30–35, before reaching the climax of his career, i.e. before becoming the vizier. The highest office he attained was that of overseer of Upper Egypt.