Ancient sites and sand
Anyone who has ever seen pictures of Egypt, or studied the history of architecture has seen the marvel of Saqqara, the Step Pyramid. Halfway between a flat, loaf-like mastaba and the true pyramids that are so iconic of Egypt
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The Step Pyramid is only the most visible part of an enormous funerary complex that was oriignally surrounded by an enormous wall almost 11 meters high. It encloses a courtyard 544 meter long and 277 meters wide.it is not aligned directly north-south (although the Pyramid inside is carefully arranged to the compass points). There are […]
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Just southwest of Djoser lies the rounded mound of Sekhemkhet’s pyramid, a complete complex meant to have all the element of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, but apparently abandoned before it was finished
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The Pyramid was closed when we went — many of the sites in Saqqara are closed for renovations or restoration work — and from the outside it doesn’t look like much. A pile of limestone rubble in the vague shape of a pyramid originally 44 meters high, but squashed down to less than 20 now. If […]
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Memphis is an ancient necropolis. It is considered the oldest “imperial” city on earth, and was founded at the beginning of the first dynasty (c. 3100 BCE) by Menes.
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This utterly collapsed pyarmid looks like a conical stone pile, but it marks the return of the pharaohs to Saqqara as a burial place in the fifth dynasty.
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The entrance to this mastaba is unassuming, but inside, the reliefs and paintings are well-preserved.
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One of the smaller tombs in the complex of Saqqara, from the fifth dynasty
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