{"id":6130,"date":"2020-02-26T21:42:54","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T21:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/?p=6130"},"modified":"2020-02-26T21:42:57","modified_gmt":"2020-02-26T21:42:57","slug":"the-pyramids-of-saqqara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/2020\/02\/26\/the-pyramids-of-saqqara\/","title":{"rendered":"The Pyramids Of Saqqara"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sakkara (sometimes called Saqqara) is one of the most extensive archaeological sites in all of\u00a0Egypt! It was the primary cemetery of the former capital of Egypt, Memphis, yet it is still one of the most\u00a0unexplored archaeological sites, despite the amazing finds that have already been discovered? What else may be hidden among the site?<\/p>\n

The site’s most major feature is the Step Pyramid of King Zoser, which dates back to 2700 BC. It is one of the oldest stone structures in the world!<\/p>\n

Sakkara is also the site of many tombs\u00a0through the\u00a01st<\/sup>\u00a0and 2nd<\/sup>\u00a0dynasties. Most are made out of mud bricks, but some tombs are made of limestone and\u00a0decorated with daily life scenes. The ancient artwork is truly remarkable<\/p>\n

Sakkara is divided into two parts:<\/p>\n

-Southern Sakkara, which is dominated by the step Pyramid.
\n-Northern Sakkara, which is dominated by the pyramid of King Titi, and the mastaba tombs of the Old Kingdom.<\/p>\n

The Step Pyramid<\/u><\/strong><\/h2>\n

It was built for King Zoser, one of the greatest kings of the third dynasty (2721-2780 BC). Originally meant as a tomb, this pyramid was designed and built by his great architect Imhotep.\u00a0It was built as a step pyramid, 60m high, and consists of 6 steps; each one built on top of\u00a0the other, gradually getting smaller in size as the steps ascended.<\/p>\n

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Today it is considered as one of the oldest stone structures built by man! And, the first time the Ancient Egyptians would attempt to use limestone! \u00a0Zoser’s Pyramid is\u00a0built entirely\u00a0of limestone, small bricks of limestone, and honestly,\u00a0not of the best quality, and yet it has remained for more than 4700 years! It is simply mind-boggling!<\/p>\n

The Pyramid’s four sides are very nearly aligned with the four cardinal points. On the northern side is the original entrance of the pyramid. On the north-western side, you will notice a little room that is built with a gradient angle, similar to the pyramid itself. In there was found a beautiful statue of King Zoser made of limestone. It was moved to the Egyptian museum in Cairo and replaced by a replica. The northern entrance is no longer safe to traverse and closed to the public.\u00a0Any people, granted entrance into the pyramid, must use\u00a0the second entrance, created all the way back\u00a0in the 26th<\/sup>\u00a0dynasty, located\u00a0on the southern side of the pyramid. I have frequently been allowed, into this amazing pyramid,\u00a0working with\u00a0TV crews, that went around Sakkara with me.\u00a0However, I needed special permission to do this.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0you go underneath the pyramid, there is a strange feeling that haunts you, especially when you remember that you are exploring 4,700 years of time.\u00a0As you descend you see\u00a0a maze of little corridors and tunnels! Found in some of these tunnels were\u00a0more than 30,000 jars,\u00a0made out of various\u00a0types of stone, such as alabaster, marble, diorite, and slate.
\nTo the southern side of the pyramid, you will find a burial shaft, located almost 28 meters deep, which is believed to be a symbolic tomb for the king, as kings of the first three dynasties used to build two tombs for themselves; one a real tomb and the other, a cenotaph (commemorative tomb).\u00a0 The pyramid is surrounded by an impressive rectangular enclosure wall that measures 277m by 544m,\u00a0 it lies mostly ruined today, but in its glory, it was\u00a010m high. You can still\u00a0see parts of it today.<\/p>\n

In the wall’s southeastern\u00a0area, is the entrance to the complex and most of what’s through this door has been recently restored! At the end of the little hall is an\u00a0illusion of two doors, swung open as if to welcome you in. The entrance leads you to a colonnade\u00a0consisting of\u00a040 columns. Each column is attached to the wall behind. This\u00a0style is called engaged columns, and they were built to ensure that the ceiling was supported and there was no danger of collapse.\u00a0 In-between the columns, a large number of small rooms was created; the rooms\u00a0once contained statues representing King Zoser as ruler of Upper and Lower Egypt. The long hypostyle (supported by columns)\u00a0hall leads to an open courtyard, which was used by the king, to\u00a0perform the rituals of the jubilee feast, called the Heb-Sed festival. One of the rituals performed by the kings of Ancient Egypt to ensure that they are able to rule the country for the next 30 years. To the right of this open courtyard, Imhotep built a temple known as the Heb-Sed Temple, so that the king would be able to practice this ritual in the afterlife.<\/p>\n

Behind the temple, and further north, are two buildings\u00a0one in front of the\u00a0other; they are called the northern and southern houses, where the king is supposed to host the dignitaries who have come to attend the king’s ritual in the temple, and he\u00a0recognize him\u00a0as a king of Upper and Lower Egypt.<\/p>\n

Next to the Step Pyramid complex, on the southern side, you will see the ruined Pyramid of King Unas, which dates back to the end of the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0dynasty. It was the first pyramid\u00a0where inscriptions were found to be\u00a0decorating the walls of the burial chamber! There are more than 700 incantations, which are supposed to help the dead king throughout the afterlife, and they are known as the Pyramid Texts. The Unas pyramid is now opened to visit till 12:00 p.m. daily, after it has been closed for several years.<\/p>\n

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Sakkara (sometimes called Saqqara) is one of the most extensive archaeological sites in all of\u00a0Egypt! It was the primary cemetery of the former capital of Egypt, Memphis, yet it is still one of the most\u00a0unexplored archaeological sites, despite the amazing finds that have already been discovered? What else may be hidden among the site? The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":6134,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6130"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6130"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6130\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6130"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6130"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6130"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shebatour.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=6130"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}