Trip to Egypt, April 2005Notes of Sakkara How can I be able to describe... the feeling of unreality when actually standing before King Djoserīs Step Pyramid, sense the rocky ground under my feet, see the intense blue skye up above and knowing that I am in Kemet - for real. To walk through the entrance in the Enclosure Wall and wander through the narrow corridor which leads into the courtyard and which is lined with massive, ribbed columns resembling Greek ones but these are so much older. To see the pyramid itself loom in front of me whe we come out into the courtyard, to walk in the soft, warm sand beside the wooden trail laid out for tourists. To recognize so many motifs from my books... the chapels in the Heb Sed courtyard, the three beautiful pillars by the North House, the Cobra frieze. I can feel the heat from the sun even though Iīm wearing a brimmed hat which threatens to blow off my head. A fresh, warm wind makes me take out my white shawl and put it on. The sun is hot. We took a slow walk around the enclosure, stopping frequently to just stand still and absorb the sights. Crossed the courtyard, past the pyramid, past the South House over to the North House (used in the Heb Sed ceremonies). Around the Serdab (anc.Eg: 'per-twt', once a closed room housing a statue of the King), up a small hill by the funerary temple where we could see all the way across the desert to the Giza Plateau and the Pyramids. Turning back, we went through the Heb Sed Court, from there we crossed the courtyard once again to walk up the steep stairs at the southern end where the Cobra Frieze is, and looked down into the bottomless pit which makes out the South Tomb. Up there, we stood looking out across the burial grounds, having the Pyramid of Unas, where the earliest Pyramid Texts are inscribed, (which unfortunately they donīt allow visitors into any more,) to our right, towards Dashur and the pyramids of Sneferu. That whole area is in fact also part of the Sakkara Complex, which covers an area of some 6 km x 1.5 km and you have to go by car between the spots you want to see. We had hoped to get to see the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep but it was closed for visitors. At some low rocks we took a break, shared a small snack and sipped our water, which we soon became used to always carrying with us wherever we went. At one point we found bits and pieces of reliefs with hieroglyphs lying on the ground and parts of a wall, which probably had made out the rear part of a tomb, with beautiful but damaged reliefs on it. It might have been either Queen Khenut or Nebet, not sure which. Then walking through the rest of the burial area outside the enclosure wall, where diggings seemed to be going on at some places, we passed along an ancient brick wall and finally headed back towards the entrance. Our taxi took us to the Pyramid of Teti (6th Dyn.) not far off. You can walk to there but you want to save energy and the heat will exhaust you. A long, sloping corridor with footholds of iron (modern ones) led down into the tomb. We had to walk with crouched backs, carefully minding our steps. Once down we saw the most beautiful carvings of the Pyramid Texts decorating the walls. Every hieroglyph was a piece of art. An immense sarcophagus still loomed in the dimly lit burial chamber. Once again the feeling of standing in front of something you could not really grasp came over me. To think that people really worked in this place some 4000 years ago, carving all these words, these little pieces of art, to help their King ascend and join the stars? Had they enjoyed the coolness down here away from the burning sun, had they brought food and drink down with them or had they climbed up and out in the daylight for breaks and to go home to their mudbrick homes for the night and returned the next morning? How long had it taken them? How many had they been? Were they regarded as honoured tomb decorators and artisans or as ordinary workers? Dazed, we emerged into the sunlight again, to cross the short distance over to the tombs of Mereruka and Kagemni. Both tombs show beautiful, beautiful reliefs, some with the original color still on them. Visitors are frequent here and you have to be flexible to be able to enjoy a wall in some relative peace before a whole group barges in and a loud lecturing in French or German - or even Russian ensues. Photography inside the tombs is not allowed, something you approve of when understanding how much damage photo flashes can cause these ancient paintings. And because there are those people who dont respect this ban but use their flash anyhow, all photography inside tombs has now been forbidden Outside the tomb of Kagemni some rubble and small rocks are heaped against the wall. A square, whitish stone sits a little apart. On it are carvings of fruit, bread and a jar of a special kind. It is an offering table, beautifully carved and now I regret not having my camera with me, itīs been left in the car. It would have been wonderful to have a photo of this beautiful thing, nicely displayed outside the wall with the sun glistening on its delicate carvings. Once someone placed offerings of food and fruit on it, poured libations and prayed. Now it lies forgotten and unused. The last stop on our Sakkara expedition is the tomb of Ptahotep. Remember the 'Teachings of Ptahotep'? It is situated a few minutes ride away from the other tombs and the taxi gets us there quickly. It is in my opinion the most beautiful of them all, to my eyes the carvings there are exquisite, detailed and some are quite unusual. Yet again cameras are not allowed inside. I would love to find a publication of this. Outside the tomb of Ptahotep, a little group of Egyptians are waiting for us. Weīre their prey, they want to sell postcards, scarfes, bookmarks, whatnot. We take some time to haggle a little bit and I get a bunch of postcards and a set of bookmarks for 11 Egyptian pounds, that is ca 13-14 Swedish crowns which is ca 2 US dollars I think. Prices are nothing compared to our standards, people are often very poor, I donīt mind if I buy little things here and there but you can get tired of having to haggle every time. Full of impressions, windblown, tired, hungry and curiously silent we now turn back to Cairo. Our driver impresses us once more with his agile drive through the crowded traffic where every other driver incessantly communicates with their horns with each other to make the traffic flow. For someone whoīs used to react when a car sounds its horn, thinking it means something serious is about to happen, this is quite an experience. Everyone sounds their horn to tell each other where they are, where they intend to go, to make someone else to give way. It seems like pandemonium, total confusion. Despite this, traffic functions apparently, we saw very few standstills and only one small accident - in a city of over 17 millions of inhabitants.
 Ready for the Sakkara Complex |