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 Decorated with elaborately carved reliefs, paintings, and statuary, the tombs of officials are a significant source of Old Kingdom art. Often produced by the same craftsmen who worked on royal monuments, art in these elite tombs reflected developments occurring in the royal sphere. By locating their tombs near the pyramid complexes of their kings, officials hoped to maintain their bureaucratic status in the afterlife. Hieroglyphic inscriptions record the tomb owner's titles and rank, and reliefs on the tomb walls depict the daily activity of producing food and other provisions needed by the deceased's spirit. Tombs of this sort are usually known as mastabas, from the Arabic for "bench," because of their rectangular superstructure. In the Fourth Dynasty, slab stelae—such as that of Wep-em-nefret shown here—were inset into the mastaba facades and provided the only relief decoration for a select group of officials' tombs in the Western Cemetery at Giza.
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