Saqqarah Things to Do

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During the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt (27th century BC), the architect Imhotep built Egypt's first step pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser, by building a series of six successively smaller mastabas (an earlier form of tomb structure), one atop of another. This is the oldest, still standig pyramid in Egypt.
The pyramid used to be sorrunded by a 10,5 m high wall made out of
limestone. Some of the wall has been restored and now serves as the entrence to the pyramid area. A korridor made out of 40 columns lead you out the southern yard.

Located at the east side of the pyramid you can find the oldest examples of tourist scribble from 1100 BC.
On the north side of the pyramid you can see a painted statue of Djoser. The statue it though a copy the original, which can be found in the Egyptian museum in Cairo.

Quite interesting to visit. Quite nice to have a guide here if possible, very much history and names to keep tack on.
Worth a visit.

South of Djoser's Pyramed is Una's Pyramid from the fifth dynasty. Nowadays this pyramid is now ruined, and looks more like a small hill than a royal pyramid.
It was investigated by both Perring and Lepsius, but it was Gaston Maspero who first found the entry to the chambers in 1881, where he found texts covering the walls of the burial chambers, these together with others found in nearby pyramids are now known as the Pyramid Texts. These are the oldest known examples of decorative script found in a Pharaoh tomb.
In the burial chamber itself the remains of a mummy were found, including the skull, right arm and shin, but whether these belong to Unas is not certain.

Unfortunaitly you can't enter this pyramid since it's almost ruined. But you can visit many of the 200 mastabas and tombs surrounding it, many of them are very interesting.

The step pyramid is remarkable for being the first man-made stone pyramid. It is actually 6 mastabas on top each other. The pyramid was designed by Imhotep, whio eventually himself was worshipped as a god. Some people believe Imhotep's tomb is somewhere on the Saqqarah necropolis.
In addition to Djoser's pyramid are others of Pepi, Teti, Unas, Sekhemket.
There are a number of fine tombs with bas relief and walls inscribed with the Book of the Dead.
Further out is the philosopher's circle , a rather disappointing collection of Greek or Roman busts. The Serapaeum where the Apis Bulls were buried is unfortunately closed.
Still there is a lot to see, and more is being discovered all the time.

The only entrance to Zoser's complex is in the south-east corner of the giant enclosure wall [10,5 metres high] It encloses 150,000 sq m. and is made of limestone There are 14 bastions with gateways, thirteen of which are actually false doors of solid stone

This is a very large mastaba tomb, in fact the largest Old Kingdom tomb at Saqqarah.. It is excellent for giving a clear picture of life in Ancient Egypt. The wall paintings are fairly well preserved.
Mereruka was probably a member of the royal family, and had married the daughter [Shesheshat , aka Waetetkhethar] of Pharaoh Teti, whose pyramid is nearby.
There are 32 chambers in three sections: 21 are devoted to Meruruka who held several high positions : Chief Justice and vizier, Inspector of the priests associated with the Pyramid of Teti, Scribe of the Divine Books, Chief Lector Priest, Overseer of the Royal record Scribes. these titles are inscibed on the jambs of the entrance. There is a14.5 m shaft down to the burial roof where he was laid in his sarcophagus. But this was robbed in early times.
A section for his wife Shesheshat.
A section for his son Meryteti.
There is a good statue of Mereruka coming out of the false door in the large chamber which has 6 square columns . The walls show scenes of wildlife, hunting, industry, playing, as well as family life. For those who cannot get down to Luxor, this tomb is a good example of what can be seen there- and is far older, dating back to the 6th Dynasty

Holes in a corridor once had statues which have been removed to the Museum.

More pictures in the travelogue.

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The largest tomb is that of Mereruka which has fine wall decorations, though the colour is fading- not surprising after more than 4000 years!
There are similar murals in the romb of Ka Gemni,The tomb of Ti and the pyramid of Teti and Unas Pyramid Causeway.
In the pyramids of Teti and Pepi there are incised the Book of the Dead.
From the walls we learn almost every aspect of Egyptian life from cooking, wrestling, games, making jewellery, fishing and agriculture etc

*My apologies for the quality of the pictures. They were taken from my video clip in the days before photography inside the tombs was forbidden.

The pyramid of Teti is nothing much to look at- a heap of rubble, but go down into the tomb and you will see a chamber with a sarcophagus. The ceiling is painted with six-pointed stars, and the walls have inscriptions from the Book of the Dead.

Similar is the Pyramid of Unas on the southern side of the Djoser pyramid. It can be entered and also has the Book of the Dead.

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The entrance passage is amazing. The architect Imhotep fashioned a colonnade from stone but in the manner of the traditional reed or plant bundles of the native houses. It was the first time that pillars were built and as he was not sure if they could stand freely alone, the columns were attached to a wall.
They have now developed a polish from the 'desert varnish' and are a beautiful honey colour.
When you walk through the columns try to look carefully to appreciate the achievement of this first great architect, who later was worshipped as a god.

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Although the Step Pyramid looks inferior to those of Giza, it has its own beauty. Beside the pyramid is the serdab, a narrow box containing a statue of djoser viewing the heavens. There are many other buildings, and a huge courtyard where the hebsed festival was performed. At the southern corner can be seen a frieze of serpents [cobras, the uraei that denote kingship],