Sights in Saqqara
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Zoser's Funerary Complex
The hypostyle hall leads into the Great South Court, a huge open area flanking the south side of the pyramid, with a section of wall featuring a frieze of cobras. The cobra, or uraeus, represented the goddess Wadjet, a fire-spitting agent of destruction and protector of the pharaoh. It was a symbol of Egyptian royalty, and a rearing cobra always appeared on the brow of a pharaoh's headdress or crown.
Near the base of the pyramid is an altar, and in the centre of the court are two stone B-shaped boundary markers, which delineated the ritual race the pharaoh had to run, a literal demonstration of his fitness to rule. The race was part of the Jubilee Festival, or Heb-Sed, wh…
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Pyramid of Unas
What appears to be another big mound of rubble to the southwest of Zoser's funerary complex, is actually the 2375-2345 BC Pyramid of Unas, the last pharaoh of the 5th dynasty. Built only 300 years after the inspired creation of the Step Pyramid, this unassuming pile of loose blocks and debris once stood 43m high.
From the outside, the Pyramid of Unas is not much to look at, though the interior marked the beginning of a significant development in funerary practices. For the first time, the royal burial chamber was decorated, its ceiling adorned with stars and its white alabaster-lined walls inscribed with beautiful blue hieroglyphs.
The aforementioned hieroglyphs are the fu…
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Step Pyramid
In the year 2650 BC, Imhotep, the pharaoh's chief architect (later deified), built the Step Pyramid for Zoser. It is Egypt's (and the world's) earliest stone monument, and its significance cannot be overstated. Previously, temples were made of perishable materials, while royal tombs were usually underground rooms topped with mud-brick mastabas. However, Imhotep developed the mastaba into a pyramid and built it in hewn stone. From this flowed Egypt's later architectural achievements.
The pyramid was transformed from mastaba into pyramid through six separate stages of construction and alteration. With each stage, the builders gained confidence in their use of the new medium…
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Serapeum
The Serapeum, which is dedicated to the sacred Apis bull, is one of the highlights of visiting Saqqara. The Apis bulls were by far the most important of the cult animals entombed at Saqqara. The Apis, it was believed, was an incarnation of Ptah, the god of Memphis, and was the calf of a cow struck by lightning from heaven. Once divinely impregnated, the cow could never again give birth, and her calf was kept in the Temple of Ptah at Memphis and worshipped as a god.
The Apis was always portrayed as black, with a distinctive white diamond on its forehead, the image of a vulture on its back and a scarab-shaped mark on its tongue. When it died, the bull was mummified on one o…
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Tombs of Mereruka & Ankhmahor
Near the Pyramid of Teti is the tomb of his highest official, Mereruka, vizier and overseer of priests. It's the largest Old Kingdom courtier's tomb, with 32 chambers covering an area of 1000 sq metres. The 17 chambers on the eastern side belong to Mereruka, and include a magnificent six-columned offering hall featuring a life-size statue of Mereruka appearing to walk right out of the wall to receive the offerings brought to him.
Other rooms are reserved for Mereruka's wife, Princess Seshseshat (Teti's daughter), and their eldest son, Meriteti (whose name means 'Beloved of Teti'). Much of the tomb's decoration is similar to that of the Mastaba of Ti, with an even greater …
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Mastaba of Ti
Northeast of the Philosophers' Circle is the Mastaba of Ti, which was discovered by Mariette in 1865. It is perhaps the grandest and most detailed private tomb at Saqqara, and one of our main sources of knowledge about life in Old Kingdom Egypt. Its owner, Ti, was overseer of the Abu Sir pyramids and sun temples (among other things) during the 5th dynasty. In fact, the superb quality of his tomb is in keeping with his nickname, Ti the Rich.
Like Zoser, a life-size statue of the deceased stands in the tomb's offering hall (as with the Zoser statue, the original is in the Egyptian Museum). Ti's wife, Neferhetpes, was priestess and 'royal acquaintance'. Together with their t…
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Serdab
A stone structure right in front of the pyramid, the serdab (a small room containing a statue of the deceased to which offerings were presented) contains a slightly tilted wooden box with two holes drilled into its north face. Look through these and you'll have the eerie experience of coming face to face with Zoser himself. Inside is a near-life-size, lifelike painted statue of the long-dead pharaoh, gazing stonily out towards the stars.
It's worth noting that this statue is only a copy - the original statue is in Cairo's Egyptian Museum. The original entrance to the Step Pyramid is directly behind the serdab, and leads down to a maze of subterranean tunnels and chambers…
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Tomb of Akhethotep & Ptahhotep
Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep were senior royal officials during the reigns of Djedkare (2414-2375 BC) and Unas at the end of the 5th dynasty. Akhethotep served as vizier, judge, supervisor of pyramid cities and supervisor of priests, though his titles were eventually inherited by Ptahhotep, along with his tomb. The joint mastaba has two burial chambers, two chapels and a pillared hall.
The painted reliefs in Ptahhotep's section are particularly beautiful, and portray a wide range of animals, from lions and hedgehogs to the domesticated cattle and fowl, that were brought as offerings to the deceased. Ptahhotep himself is portrayed resplendent in a panther-skin robe inh…
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Saite & Persian Tombs
Around the sides of the Pyramid of Unas are several large shaft tombs of the Saite (664-525 BC) and Persian (525-404 BC) eras. These are some of the deepest tombs in Egypt, although the precaution against grave robbers failed. However, the sheer size of the tombs and the great stone sarcophagi within, combined with their sophisticated decoration, demonstrate that the technical achievements of the later part of Egyptian history were equal to those of earlier times.
To the north of the pyramid is the enormous tomb shaft of the Saite general Amun-Tefnakht. On the south side of the pyramid is a group of three Persian tombs - the entrance is covered by a small wooden hut to wh…
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Pyramid of Sekhemket
Closed to the public because of its dangerous condition, the unfinished Pyramid of Sekhemket of Zoser's successor Sekhemket (2648-2640 BC) is a short distance west of the ruined monastery. The project was abandoned for unknown reasons when the great limestone enclosure wall was only 3m high, despite the fact that the architects had already constructed the underground chambers in the rock beneath the pyramid as well as the deep shaft of the south tomb.
An unused travertine sarcophagus was found in the sealed burial chamber, and a quantity of gold, jewellery and a child's body were discovered in the south tomb. Recent surveys have also revealed another mysterious large com…
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Pyramid of Teti
The avenue of sphinxes excavated by Mariette in the 1850s has again been hidden by desert sands, but it once extended to the much earlier Pyramid of Teti. Teti (2345-2323 BC) was the first pharaoh of the 6th dynasty, and his pyramid was built in step form and cased in limestone. Unfortunately, the pyramid was robbed for its treasure and its stone, and today only a modest mound remains.
However, the interior fared better, and is similar in appearance to that of the Pyramid of Unas. Within the intact burial chamber, Teti's basalt sarcophagus is well preserved, and represents the first example of a sarcophagus with inscriptions on it.
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Mastaba of Al-Faraun
Known as the Pharaoh's Bench, this unusual funerary complex belongs to the last 4th-dynasty pharaoh, the short-lived Shepseskaf (2503-2498 BC). Shepseskaf was the son of Menkaure, builder of Giza's third great pyramid, though he failed to emulate the glory of his father. Occupying an enclosure once covering 700 sq metres, Shepseskaf's rectangular tomb was built of limestone blocks, and originally covered by a further layer of fine, white limestone and a lower layer of red granite.
Inside the tomb, a 21m-long corridor slopes down to storage rooms and a vaulted burial chamber.
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Pyramid of Userkaf
Northeast of the funerary complex is the Pyramid of Userkaf, the first pharaoh of the 5th dynasty, which is closed to the public for safety reasons. Although the removal of its limestone casing has left little more than a mound of rubble, it once rose to a height of 49m. Furthermore, its funerary temple was once decorated with the most exquisite naturalistic relief carvings, judging from one of the few remaining fragments (now in the Egyptian Museum) showing birds by the river.
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Philosophers' Circle
Near the tomb of Akhethotep & Ptahhotep is a sad-looking group of Greek statues known as the Philosophers' Circle, which are arranged in a semicircle and sheltered by a spectacularly ugly concrete shelter. This is the remnant of a collection of philosophers and poets set up as a wayside shrine by Ptolemy I (305-285 BC) as part of his patronage of learning. From left to right are Plato, Heraclitus, Thales, Protagoras, Homer, Hesiod, Demetrius of Phalerum and Pindar.
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Pyramid of Pepi II
The 2278-2184 BC Pyramid of Pepi II once interred the remains of Pepi II, whose 94-year reign at the end of the 6th dynasty may have been the longest in Egyptian history. Despite his longevity, Pepi II's 52m-high pyramid was of the same modest proportions as those of his predecessor, Pepi I. Although the exterior is little more than a mound of rubble, the interior is decorated with more passages from the Pyramid Texts.
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Pyramids of Djedkare, Merenre & Pepi I
Pyramids of Djedkare, Merenre & Pepi I. Known as the 'Pyramid of the Sentinel', the 25m-high Djedkare pyramid contains the remains of the last ruler of the 5th dynasty, and can be penetrated from the north side. The pyramids of Merenre and Pepi I are little more than slowly collapsing piles of rock, though the latter is significant as 'Memphis' appears in one of its names.
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Monastery of St Jeremiah
Uphill from the causeway of Unas, southeast of the boat pits, are the half-buried remains of the Coptic Monastery of St Jeremiah, which dates from the 5th century AD. Unfortunately, little is left of the structure, which was ransacked by invading Arabs in 950. More recently, the wall paintings and carvings were removed to the Coptic Museum in Cairo.
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North Saqqara
The main monuments are in an area around the Step Pyramid known as North Saqqara. About 1km south of the Step Pyramid is a group of monuments known as South Saqqara, with no official entry fee or opening hours as these are rarely visited.
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