Although the precise location of Metjetji’s tomb is unknown, one of his titles—”protégé of his master Unas”—suggests that he was buried in the vicinity of this king’s pyramid in Saqqara. In view of the state of preservation of these highly fragile paintings, they must have adorned a hidden room rather than the offering chapel which was accessible to visitors.
They were painted in tempera on a base of alluvial Nile clay mixed with straw (known as “mouna” in Arabic) which was applied to the chapel wall and left to dry before being coated with two layers of finer clay, the outer one of which contained plaster.