Description: For about $25 for a car and guide and entrance fee, we set out early in the morning to visit the Saqqara step pyramid – the first pyramid and the first stone structure ever built. It’s located about a 25-minute drive from the Pyramids, so leave an hour or so from your hotel.
Designed by Imhotep as the burial chamber for the King Djoser (the English would pronounce it Zoser), it is a series of mastabas – or flat tombs – built one on top of the other. It is in a section of Memphis – the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom.
It is thought that Imhotep designed a three-layer step pyramid, and then encased it in a larger step pyramid with two more layers on top. It is quite likely that Imhotep, as the high priest, was also the one who would have prepared Djoser for burial.
Saqqara isn’t just a step pyramid alone, it’s a burial complex – some scholars still excavate there looking for Imhotep’s tomb as well. The site is less crowded than at the Pyramids, but just as intriguing. Without Saqqara, there wouldn’t have been the pyramids. You can also take camel rides here as well, and you can get some awesome photos.
We stopped on the way to look at the Memphis museum. While there were some interesting things to see here – like a huge statue of Ramses II and the second largest Sphinx in Egypt (which dwarfs in comparison to the one at the Giza site), it’s nothing to write home about. A sad state of affairs for a site that was once the capital of Egypt.
If you have any time at all in Cairo, Saqqara is a must-see, but you can skip the museum if you’re short on time.
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