From Memphis to Saqqara - In Pursuit of the Pyramid of Djoser

Leaving Memphis behind we headed toward Saqqara, one of the largest burial grounds in the ancient world. The moment you step out of the car, this strange dessert silence just wraps around you. You could literally feel thousands of years of history right beneath your feet.

When I saw the Pyramid of Djoser in front of me, I stopped and stared for a moment. This is the pyramid of Djoser and its architect was Imhotep. So we are talking about the twenty seventh century BCE. It is considered the first pyramid in Egypt and is actually very different from those smooth triangular pyramids in Giza. It consists of mastabas, meaning rectangular tomb structures, stacked on top of one another. Standing right in front of the first great attempt at stone architecture is a strange feeling, I must confess.

The complex around the pyramid is actually at least as impressive as the pyramid itself. There were high stone walls, corridors with pilars and huge open plazas. Walking through them, you really get that this wasn't just some regular tomb. It was like a massive temple city built for the phoraoh's afterlife.

What we call Saqqara is not just that great pyramid, either. The wall reliefs I saw in the mastabas belonging to the nobles around were what really surprised me. Hunting scenes, snippets of daily life, religious rituals, all finely carved. Looking closely at those details, one feels as if actually touching thousands of years ago.

These scenes on the walls are actually much more than just works of art. They are like documents bringing the social order, agricultural techniques and belief system of Old Kingdom Egypt right before our eyes. Looking at these meticulus carvings in the tombs of the nobles, I realized this. In the belief of the afterlife, not only pharaohs but also high ranking high officials of the era held a place that should by no means be overlooked.

The detail that actually impressed me was this. Imhotep unlike the structures everyone had built with mudbrick until that day, used fully dressed limestone here for the very first time. So this complex we have is actually concrete proof of the transition from wood and mud to stone in world architechtural history. Looking at the stones knowing this, one sees everything through a completely different lens.

Having toured Saqqara and carrying a multitude of frames in our minds, we continued on our way toward the next stop.