Mastaba S3503 Mastaba S3503 Mastaba S3503 (Saqqara Tomb No. 3503) is a large mastaba tomb at the Saqqara necropolis in Lower Egypt. The burial was constructed around 3000 BC during the 1st Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. The structure was excavated by Walter Bryan Emery and his team at Saqqara. The superstructure of the mastaba is 42 metres long and 16 metres wide and was made from sun-dried mudbricks. The exterior was decorated with a palace facade, with nine niches on the long sides and three on each of the short sides. Within the structure were 23 chambers. Below the ground level was
Saqqara Bird which he "suppose[d] was lost," and noted that the Egyptians often placed miniaturized representations of their technology in their tombs. Messiha contended that the Saqqara Bird differs significantly from other statues and models of birds housed in the Cairo museum. According to Messiha, the Saqqara Bird has a vertical stabilizer which is unlike the generally horizontal shape of a real bird's tail. Richard P. Hallion described this fin as "shaped as if the bird had twisted its tail feathers." It is also legless and has wings set at an angle Messiha sees as similar to that of modern aircraft, which