Saqqara

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Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt

Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
, serving as the necropolis

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
for the Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian capital, Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Memphis was the ancient capital of the first Nome of Lower Egypt, and of the Old Kingdom of Egypt from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history....
. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world's oldest standing step pyramid

Step pyramid

The construction of step pyramids has been an ancient part of several cultures throughout history. These pyramids typically are large and made of several layers, or steps, of stone....
, as well as a number of mastaba

Mastaba

Cairo

Cairo , which means "the triumphant", is the Cairo and largest city of Egypt.It is the most populous metropolitan area in Egypt and is also one of the most populous in the world....
, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 km by 1.5 km.

e Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
, Saqqara served as its necropolis

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
.

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Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt

Egypt

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
for the Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
ian capital, Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Step pyramid

Mastaba

Cairo

Description

While Memphis

Memphis, Egypt

Ancient Egypt

Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
. Although it was eclipsed as the burial ground of royalty by Giza

Giza

in the 2006 national census, while the governate had 6,272,571 at the same census. Its large population makes it the 2nd largest suburb in the world, tied with Incheon, Korea and Quezon City, Philippines, second only to Yokohama, Japan....
and later by the Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings

The Valley of the Kings is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th century BC to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaoh and powerful nobles of the Conventional Egyptian chronology#New Kingdom ....
in Thebes

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian Nome ....
, it remained an important complex for minor burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic

Ptolemaic dynasty

The Ptolemaic dynasty was a Hellenistic Macedonian royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt for nearly 300 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC....
and Roman

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC....
times.

The step pyramid at Saqqara was designed by Imhotep

Imhotep

Imhotep , 27th century BC was an Egyptians polymath, who served under the third dynasty of Egypt king, Djoser, as chancellor to the pharaoh and high priest of the sun god Ra at Heliopolis ....
for King Djoser

Djoser

Netjerikhet or Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. He commissioned his official, Imhotep , to build the first of the pyramids, a step pyramid for him at Saqqara....
(c.2667-2648 BC). It is the oldest complete hewn-stone building complex known in history. It is also the location of the newly opened (in 2006) Imhotep Museum

Imhotep Museum

The Imhotep Museum is located at the foot of the Saqqara necropolis complex, near Memphis, Egypt, in Egypt and was built as part of strategic site management...
. It is also where the tomb of King Menes

Menes

Menes is the name of the Egyptian king credited with founding the First dynasty of Egypt, sometime around 3100 BC. Menes was seen as a founding figure for much of the history of Ancient Egypt, and was possibly a mythical founding king similar to Romulus and Remus for Ancient Rome....
, the first pharaoh of Egypt lies.

History

Early Dynastic

Although the earliest burials of nobles at Saqqara can be traced back to the First Dynasty, it was not until the Second Dynasty

Second dynasty of Egypt

The Second Dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with the First dynasty of Egypt under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. The capital at that time was Thinis....
that the first kings were buried there, including Hotepsekhemwy

Hotepsekhemwy

Hotepsekhemwy, , was the first king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. His name means "Pleasing in Powers." Little is known about his reign.It is possible that Pharaoh Hotepsekhemwy reached office through marriage with a princess....
and Nynetjer

Nynetjer

Nynetjer or Ninetjer was the third king of the Second dynasty of Egypt. His name translates as "Godlike" in English. Ninetjer is mentioned on the Palermo Stone and is known from mud sealings found in an underground gallery at Saqqara which may have also been his tomb....
.

Old Kingdom

The most striking feature of the necropolis, however is the Step Pyramid

Pyramid of Djoser

The Pyramid of Djoser , or step pyramid is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis, Egypt....
of the Pharaoh

Pharaoh

Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. In antiquity this title began to be used for the ruler who was the religious and political leader of united ancient Egypt, only during the New Kingdom, specifically, during the middle of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt....
Djoser

Djoser

Third dynasty of Egypt

Third Dynasty The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth dynasty of Egypt, Fifth dynasty of Egypt and Sixth dynasty of Egypt....
. In addition to Djoser's, there are another 16 pyramid

Pyramid

A pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of pyramids are usually quadrilateral or trilateral , meaning that a pyramid usually has four or five faces....
s on the site, in various states of preservation or dilapidation. That of the fifth-dynasty Pharaoh Unas

Unas

Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....
, located just to the south of the step pyramid and on top of Hotepsekhemwi's tomb, houses the earliest known example of the Pyramid Texts

Pyramid Texts

The Pyramid Texts are a collection of Ancient Egypt religious text from the time of the Old Kingdom. The pyramid texts are the oldest known religious texts in the world....
inscriptions with instructions for the afterlife used to decorate the interior of tombs, which are the precursor of the New Kingdom Book of the Dead
Book of the Dead

"The Book of Dead" is the common name for the ancient Egyptian funerary text known as "Spells of Coming" "Forth By Day". The book of dead was a description of the ancient Egyptian conception of the Duat and a collection of hymns, spells, and instructions to allow the deceased to pass through obstacles in the afterlife....
. Saqqara is also home to an impressive number of mastaba

Mastaba

A mastaba was a kind of Ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's History of Egypt....
tombs. Because the necropolis was lost beneath the sands for much of the past two millennia even the sizable mortuary complex surrounding Djoser's pyramid was not uncovered until 1924 many of these have been superbly preserved, with both their structures and lavish internal decorations intact.

Major Old Kingdom structures

Gisr el-mudir
Gisr el-mudir

Gisr el-Mudir, located at Saqqara in Egypt, just west of Sekhemkhet's pyramid complex, is a massive enclosure that seems to date from the Second dynasty of Egypt....
, a massive enclosure that may date from the Early Dynastic
Early Dynastic Period of Egypt

The Archaic or Early Dynastic Period of Egypt immediately follows the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt c. 3150 BC. It is generally taken to include the First dynasty of Egypt and Second dynasty of Egypt Dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period of Egypt until 2686 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom....
period.
Sekhemkhet
Sekhemkhet

Sekhemkhet was a Pharaoh in Egypt during the Third dynasty of Egypt. According to the Manethonian tradition, a king known as Tyris reigned for a relatively brief period of seven years, and modern scholars believe Djoserty and Sekhemkhet are the same person....
's Step Pyramid (the Buried Pyramid
Buried Pyramid

The is the common name for the funerary complex of pharaoh Sekhemkhet, and is a collection of monuments dating from the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt. It is located in the Saqqara necropolis, close to modern Memphis, Egypt....
)
Step Pyramid
Pyramid of Djoser

The Pyramid of Djoser , or step pyramid is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis, Egypt....
of Netjerikhet Djoser
Djoser

Netjerikhet or Djoser is the best-known pharaoh of the Third dynasty of Egypt. He commissioned his official, Imhotep , to build the first of the pyramids, a step pyramid for him at Saqqara....
Shepseskaf
Shepseskaf

Shepseskaf was a son of Menkaure who succeeded his father on the throne. Shepseskaf's name means "His Soul is Noble." He was likely the last Egyptian Pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt if he was not succeeded by a certain unknown ruler named Djedefptah as recorded in some Egyptian literature and, indirectly, by the Turin Canon....
's Mastabat Fara'un
Userkaf
Userkaf

Userkaf was the founder of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt and the first pharaoh to start the tradition of building sun temples at Abusir.. Userkaf's name means "his Egyptian soul is powerful." He ruled from 2465-2458 BC and constructed the Pyramid of Userkaf complex at Saqqara....
's pyramid
Pyramid of Userkaf

The Pyramid complex of Userkaf is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara. Constructed in dressed stone, with a core of rubble, the pyramid now resembles a conical hill just to the north of the Pyramid of Djoser of Djoser....
, now looking like a conical hill.
Djedkare Isesi
Djedkare Isesi

Djedkare Isesi in Greek language known as Tancheres from Manetho's Aegyptiaca, was a Pharaoh of Egypt during the Fifth dynasty of Egypt....
pyramid complex, known as Haram el-Shawaf
Haram el-Shawaf

Haram el-Shawaf , located in south Saqqara in Egypt, is a pyramid complex built by Djedkare Isesi and was originally called Beautiful is Djedkare-Isesi....
.
Unas
Unas

Unas was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt, and the last ruler of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt from the Old Kingdom. His reign has been dated as falling between 2375 BC and 2345 BC....
pyramid complex
Pyramid of Unas

The Pyramid Complex of Unas is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara, near Cairo in Egypt.The pyramid of Unas of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt is now ruined, and looks more like a small hill than a royal pyramid....
, now mainly collapsed.
Teti
Teti

Teti was the first Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt. He is also less commonly known as Othoes. He reigned from around 2345 to 2333 BC and is buried at Saqqara, however the exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List, but is believed to have been about twenty years....
's pyramid complex
Pyramid of Teti

The Pyramid complex of Teti is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara, in Egypt. It was originally called Teti's places are enduring. The preservation above ground is very poor, and it now resembles a small hill....
, looking more like a small hill, rather than a man-made construction.
Pepi I pyramid complex
Mortuary complex of Pepi I

The mortuary complex of Pepi I is situated in the southern archaeological complex of Saqqara, Egypt. It was excavated in the 1960s by the French Archaeological Mission of Saqqara which, all around the main pharaoh's pyramid, discovered about ten new pyramids for the queens and family of this pharaoh.....
, with its associated queens pyramids.
Merenre's complex
Pepi II, last great pyramid built in the Old Kingdom.
Ibi
Qakare Ibi

Qakare Ibi was an ancient Egyptian ruler of the Eighth dynasty of Egypt. Qa-ka-Re .His existence was established by the discovery of his small pyramid in South Saqqara which also continues the late Old Kingdom tradition of listing pyramid texts in his tomb....
, built in the Eighth dynasty, it is now almost totally destroyed.

There are a few pyramids that date from the First Intermediate Period

First Intermediate Period of Egypt

The First Intermediate Period, often described as a ?dark period? in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately three hundred years after the end of the Old Kingdom from ca....
, the most notable being Khendjer

Khendjer

Khendjer was an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh of the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt. The name Khendjer is poorly attested in Egyptian. Khendjer "has been interpreted as a foreign name hnzr and equated with the Semitic personal name hzr, [for] 'boar'" according to the Danish Egyptologist Kim Ryholt....
's Pyramid

Pyramid of Khendjer

The Pyramid of Khendjer was built for the burial of Pharaoh Khendjer, who ruled Ancient Egypt during the Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt. Located between the pyramid of Pepi II Neferkare and the pyramid of Senusret III in South Saqqara, it was discovered by Gustave Jequier in 1929....
in South Saqqara.

New Kingdom Necropolis

While most of the mastabas date from the Old Kingdom

Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
, one major figure from the New Kingdom is also represented: Horemheb

Horemheb

Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt from 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth....
, the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty

Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
, who had a tomb

Tomb of Horemheb (Memphis)

The Memphis, Egypt tomb of Horemheb is located in the Saqqara necropolis, near Memphis, Egypt. It was constructed before Horemheb ascended to the throne, and was never used for his burial....
built here for himself before he assumed the throne in his own right, while still serving as one of Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun

Tutankhamun , Egyptian language was an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt , during the period of History of Egypt known as the New Kingdom....
's generals. However, he was never buried here and after his death he was interred, as were many other 18th Dynasty kings, in the Valley of the Kings

Valley of the Kings

Thebes, Egypt

Thebes was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian Nome ....
.

Later burials and monuments

Another major monument at Saqqara is the Serapeum

Serapeum

A Serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretism Hellenistic civilization-Ancient Egypt god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was palatable to the Ptolemaic dynasty of Alexandria....
: a gallery of tombs, cut from the rock, which served as the eternal resting place of the mummified bodies of the Apis

Apis (Egyptian mythology)

In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis, Egypt region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second dynasty of Egypt....
bulls worshipped in Memphis as embodiments of the god Ptah

Ptah

In Egyptian mythology, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land....
. Rediscovered by Auguste Mariette in 1851, the tombs had been opened and plundered in antiquity with the exception of one that lay undisturbed for some 3,700 years. The mummified bull it contained can now be seen in Cairo's agricultural museum.

On the approach to the Serapeum stands the slightly incongruous arrangement of statues known as the Philosophers' Circle: a Ptolemaic recognition of the greatest poets and thinkers of their Greek

Ancient Greece

The term Ancient Greece refers to the period of History of Greece lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca. 1100 BC and the Dorian invasion, to 146 BC and the Roman Republic conquest of Greece after the Battle of Corinth ....
ancestors, originally situated in a nearby temple. Represented here are Hesiod

Hesiod

Hesiod was a Greek language oral poet, his date is uncertain but leading scholars agree that Hesiod lived in the latter half of the Eighth-century BCE....
, Homer

Homer

Homer is traditionally held to be the author of the ancient Greek language epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey, as well as of the Homeric Hymns....
, Pindar

Pindar

Pindar , was an Ancient Greek Lyric poetry poet.Of the canonical nine lyric poets of ancient Greece, Pindar is the one whose work is by far the best preserved, and critics in antiquity tended to regard him as the greatest....
, Plato

Plato

Plato , was a Classical Greece Greeks philosopher, mathematician, writer of philosophical dialogues, and founder of the Platonic Academy in Ancient Athens, the first institution of higher learning in the western world....
, and others.

Saqqara

Description

History

Early Dynastic

Old Kingdom

Major Old Kingdom structures

New Kingdom Necropolis

Later burials and monuments

See also

External links