Akhet - The Horizon

Of these Saqqara is of the greatest importance, maybe more than the Giza plateau. Saqqara has its name from the ancient mortuary deity Sokar and was known in antiquity as kbhw-ntrw (libation of the deities). With the complex of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, Dynasty 3, Saqqara alone covers some 6 km x 1.5 km and lies ca 30 km south of Cairo, on the western side of the Nile and is only one part of the large necropolis of MenNefer. It gives us some of the most important sources for tradition and kingship from the Early Dynastic Period. The area is generally divided into North Saqqara with the Step Pyramid, Archaic tombs and Old and New Kingdom cemeteries, and South Saqqara with several other pyramids, among them Pepi I. It was here at Saqqara that the first pyramid shaped tomb was developed from an original mastaba, and this made an important architectural step not only for the history of Egypt but also for the world in general. It is said to have been built by King Djoser, but in fact, this name was only given to him a thousand years after it was built. The only name inscription found on its walls is Netjerikhet. According to tradition it is also said that it was built by the architect Imhotep, who was deified in the New Kingdom.

Something which is common both for the step pyramid itself and the secondary structures in the complex, is that there are traces of paint on the Sed chapels and the North and South Houses which shows that they were painted red to imitate wood. The enclosure wall is built to look like one of mudbrick and the ceiling imitates wooden log beams. The builders were heavily influenced by structures from earlier periods and so built in stone what was usually built in wood, mudbrick reed etc. and this made out a novelty, a new step in architectural design. The area of Djoser´s pyramid has been supposed to be a copy of his royal residence. Another interesting hypothesis is that the whole complex is a replica in stone of Egypt in the Hereafter. The south tomb would be a symbol for Abydos and the King´s rule of Upper Egypt and the North tomb (the pyramid) would suggest the Royal seat in Lower Egypt. The whole Great Court and the Heb Sed chapels would symbolize the land of Egypt with its temples while the north court would mean the area of Lower Egypt. It is all surrounded with the high wall to protect 'Egypt' from the chaos outisde its borders. Ths hypothesis is interesting but not widely acknowledged.

The Complex of the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

Although there are finds which can be dated to an earlier period than the 3rd Dynasty, the Step Pyramid, towering over the remnants of its enclosure wall, seems to gather all the attention at first. The map below show the various structures, some of which were planned already from the beginning: the enclosure wall, the tomb itself, the mortuary temple on its northern side, the south tomb at the south end with the chapel with the cobra frieze and the Heb Sed court.

After J.P. Lauer with additions by K.M. Jonsson

King Netjerikhet Djoser of the 3rd Dynasty, made a break with tradition when he decided to have his burial place at Saqqara, near the capital city, instead of at Abydos, as most of his ancestors from Dynasty 1 and 2 had. He may have done it as a statement of his authority over the northern parts of the country. He also made a break with architectual tradition in that it was first planned as a mastaba and then went through at least a couple of changes before the structure was finalised.

Enclosure wall built with serekh forms. (Photo: K.M. Jonsson)

The Enclosure Wall
The first thing that meets the eye is the enclosure wall, 10.5 m high, built in Palace-facade style, which is the same as the facade panelling from the funerary enclosure of King Khasekhemwy at Abydos. It can also be seen in serekhs from this period. It was built with fifteen false porches, only the one at the southeast corner was real and still serves as entrance to the compound.


Photo: egyptarchive.co.uk

Through an entrance hallway, 54 m long and with the roof supported with half columns in the form of reed bunches, you come out into the main court. This is the first 'hypostyle hall' and the first colonnade to be built. The ground in the Great court is covered by fine sand and there´s a gangway made of wood laid out for the tourists to walk on, reaching all the way across the court up to the pyramid.

The Step Pyramid
The pyramid itself is an example of the development of tomb building, it was not the result of sudden innovation which sometimes is said. An enclosed courtyard with one permanent structure and several temporary ones made of wood was already used by King Djer in the early 1st Dynasty. In the Step Pyramid such lightweight structures are built for eternity and therfore in stone. From the beginning the tomb was covered by a square mastaba, which in itself is unusual as most mastabas are rectangular. Later, the mastaba was enlarged in two different stages. First a pyramid of two steps was built around it, and in a second step, it was enlarged to the north and west, and six 'steps' were added to it. These changes took some twenty years to realize, with several changes along the way.

Under the structure are galleries which open into shafts above. There were also rooms which could be entered via a staircase or a sloping corridor, intended for other Royal family members. The tomb itself is 28 m deep and the layout of the rooms are supposed to depict Djoser´s palace in the Afterlife. The walls have been called the Blue Chambers as they are covered with fayence tiles in blue nuances. These decorations are meant to imitate mats and tapestries covering the walls of the palace. Finds were made in these first shafts: an empty alabaster sarcophagus, a small wooden coffin with the body of a boy who died between the age of eight and ten years of age. There were also two vessels decorated with gold leaf and carnelian coral. Fragments of alabaster sarcophagi and a seal imprint bearing the name of Netjerikhet was also discovered. In the sixth and seventh shafts some forty thousand stone vessels of varied forms and materials were found, many of them made of alabaster, slate, diorite and limestone. Several of them bore inscriptions by Royal names of 1st and 2nd Dynasty rulers like Narmer, Djer, Den, Adjib, Semerkhet, Kaa, Hetepsekhemwy, Ninetjer, Sekhemib and Khasekhemwy. Also non-royal names were inscribed. A sufficient explanation for this has not yet been reached.

Fayence tiles in galleries under the Step Pyramid and the South Tomb (Copyright: ccat.sas.upenn.edu )

The Great Court towards the Step Pyramid (Photo: K.M. Jonsson)

The South Tomb
The South Tomb is a miniature tomb the purpose of which has caused discussions but it is thought to have housed the King´s Ka statue. Another theory is that it was here that the crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt was kept. The same system of rooms and hallways covered with bluish-green tiles, as under the main pyramid was built here but the size of the 'burial chamber' is too small to have housed a coffin. Close by it is a cult chapel, now mostly destroyed but for the frieze of cobras on top of a wall.

The frieze with cobras on top of the chapel wall byt the South Tomb (Photo: K.M. Jonsson)

The dummy chapels in the Heb Sed court. (Photo: K.M. Jonsson)

The Heb Sed Court and Dummy Chapels
The Heb Sed is a Royal Jubilee held every thirtieth year of a King´s reign. The purpose was to manifest the King´s agility and strength, and to prove that he was still fit to rule the country. It happened that the Jubilee was held with shorter time intervals than thirty years. To the east side of the Great Courtyard lies the rectangular Heb Sed Court with dummy chapels on both sides. In the south of this court is a throne platform with double staircases, which from First Dynasty inscriptions and temple reliefs is known to play a part in the Heb Sed festival. It also became the hieroglyph for hb-sd, 'Sed-festival'. But as the chapels are dummies, it is not thought that there was ever a Sed festival celebrated here. Instead the thought might have been that they were put there to ensure Djoser to celebrate his Heb Sed forever in the Afterlife.

The North and South Palaces
These two structures, separate from each other, are situated north of the Heb Sed Court. Sometimes they are called Houses or Pavillions. It is however thought that they are the shrines of Upper and Lower Egypt at Hierakonpolis and Buto as there are depictions of the ensigns of the papyrus (Lower Egypt) and lotus (Upper Egypt)carved on their columns. The are dummies, filled with rubble and therefore believed to have been only symbolic and without practical function.

The Serdab
Serdab means 'cellar' in Arabic. Just to the west of the North Palace is another courtyard for the Serdab, which is a small chamber with two holes in its walls, facing out over the courtyard. If you peer through these, there´s a statue of King Djoser who sits looking out at the rituals and offerings which were made in his honor. The statue is a replica, the original is kept in the Cairo Msueum.

The Serdab with two holes for the King to look out through (Photo: egyptarchive.co.uk)

King Netjerikhet Djoser inside the serdab (Photo: egyptarchive.co.uk)

The Mortuary Temple
This is where the cult of Djoser was celebrated and it is also here that the entrance to the lower galleries are located. The temple has two courtyards to the west and to the east, to which you came by a long corridor from the entrance. In the western court was a staircase leading down to the rooms and corridors under the pyramid. There were two more chambers with stone basins in their floosr, to the west of the open courts. The inner part of the temple was adjacent to the pyramid to which two double-columned porticos led. There were false doors inside so that the King could reach his offerings, and there was probably also a cult statue of the king. The finds from the mortuary temple includes clay sealings belonging to a priest of the goddess Neith, bearing the name of Sanakht.

The North Court
The north Court is rather large, covering about a third of the whole complex but is yet not thoroughly investigated. Some thoughts are that it served the purpose of being a dmup place for the refuse of the ongoing constructions. At the northern end were found symbolic storehouses which had round openings in their roofs through which grain was poured. Some chapels reminding of the ones in the Sed Festival courtyard were also found here. A raised platform on the northern side, accessed by a stairway ramp and with a depression about eight meters square and a few centimeters deep has caused much speculation among egyptologists as to its purpose. Some belive there might have been a sun temple on the spot, others think an obelisk was erected there, and others yet say it´s a podium with place for two thrones for Djoser to watch rituals from or maybe it was an altar on which offerings were placed. The last word is not said yet by far.

Three papyrus columns still standing in the North Court
(Photo: K.M. Jonsson)

Other places of interest make out a long list:
King Sekhemkhet´s burial complex southwest of the Djoser complex.
King Shepsekaf´s burial complex, 4th Dynasty
King Userkaf´s pyramid, 5th Dynasty to the norteast of the Djoser complex
The Pyramid of Izezi, 5th Dynasty, at South Saqqara
The pyramid of Unas, last king of the 5th Dynasty. The first pyramid texts within.
The pyramid of Teti, 6th Dynasty to the north of the Djoser complex
The pyramids of Pepi I, Merenre and Pepi II, 6th Dynasty, at south Saqqara.
Non-royal tombs of the 1st and 2nd Dynasties
Royal tombs of the 2nd Dynasty
Pyramids of Dynasty 3 to 13
Non-royal tombs of the Old and Middle Kingdom
The tomb of Niankhnum & Khnumhotep, Old Kingdom
Non-royal tombs of the New Kingdom
Apis bull tombs of the New Kingdom
Non-royal tombs of the Late and Greco-Roman Periods
The Serapeum and sacred animal necropolis of the Late and Greco-Roman Periods.
Other structures and tombs not fully excavated.