Saqqara and the Step Pyramid of Djoser

DJOSER & IMHOTEP

When the pharaoh Djoser (2630–2611 BC) took the throne of Egypt nearly five thousand years ago, Egypt was still a new country with a somewhat delicate constitution. It had been forged about four hundred or so years earlier when the legendary Menes, the ruler of the Nile Valley, conquered the Delta of the Nile and hammered together a single kingdom. The union was a fragile one, however, and the forces of separatism remained strong. The years before Djoser came to the throne were apparently characterized by rival pharaohs and civil war— the royal cemeteries show signs of massive destruction and burning—but eventually the Land was reunited by a pharaoh known as Khasekhemwy (“Appearance of the Two Powers”) who seems to have died without male issue.

When he died, the throne passed to a man named Sanakht (“Strong Protection”) who had probably married the old king's daughter in order to legitimize his claim. He founded a new dynasty, the third, and fought hard to consolidate his hold on the country. Djoser seems to have been a younger brother and came to the throne about 18 years later. Since his immediate predecessors had pacified the country militarily, Djoser turned his attention to the political side and aimed to give his people a sense of national unity and pride. He decided to build an enormous monument to symbolize the unity of the land and give all of its citizens a sense of common purpose. This was to be expressed in the construction of the royal tomb which was designed to surpass in scale and splendour any previous such monument. It was to be built entirely out of stone, instead of the usual mud-brick, to symbolize the permanence of the new order. Even the wooden elements and trimwork were to be of stone. The end result was a enormous complex, covering an area of over 15 hectares (544 x 277 metres), built on the highest part of the site. It combined elements of earlier tombs and and funerary palaces, bringing them together on a grand scale.

Step Pyramid from the West

The man made responsible for carrying out the project was his vizier Imhotep, who was worshipped as a god by later Egyptians because of his genius and vision. The final product turned out to be an entirely new type of monument, a step pyramid, but that was apparently not the original goal of the architect. Clearance along the base of the pyramid on its south side have shown that the first thing to be built on the site was a stone mastaba about 64 metres square and 8 metres high . The term is a modern Arabic word for the clay bench that sits outside a traditional village house and was used to describe the earliest royal tombs in Egypt, those belonging to the first two dynasties.

In prehistoric times a heap of sand was placed over the graves of the deceased who were laid out in simple burial pits. By the time of the earliest pharaohs these pits had, in the case of rulers at any rate, evolved into whole suites of underground compartments and the mound had become a rectangular structure of mud-brick (Figure 1). By the end of the Early Dynastic Period at least, it was customary to build a large mud-brick enclosure, now known as a ‘mortuary palace’, to go along with the tomb. This would have been used for some of the funeral rites and for the ongoing offerings to sustain the soul of the dead king. Imhotep’s plan, as it eventually worked out, was to combine the two separate structures into one enormous complex .

THE STEP PYRAMID

The mastaba built by Imhotep for Djoser was enlarged on at least three occasions— the last covering a line of eleven shafts which had been sunk along the eastern side of the original structure. These shafts were sunk to a depth of 32 metres at which point equally long galleries were dug, leading underneath the mastaba. It is thought that these were intended for the burial of members of the royal family. Two alabaster sarcophagi were found, one of which contained the remains of a small child, along with huge quantities of pottery and stone vessels (Figure 2) many of which bore the names of earlier pharaohs and had presumably been removed from their tombs.

The final extension of the mastaba created an oblong platform about 70 x 80 metres which was then used as the base of a step pyramid which rose in four stages to a height of about 40 metres. But Imhotep was not finished yet. At some point the decision was made to enlarge this monument until it reached its final form, a step pyramid of 6 stages rising to a height of over 60 metres on base 125 x 110 metres. It was undoubtedly the largest structure in Egypt and probably the largest in the world at the time. It would have towered over the earlier royal tombs in the necropolis and dominated the western skyline when viewed from the capital at Memphis across the river.

The work involved was enormous. It has been estimated that a total of 850,000 tons of stone would have been needed— more than four times the material required for the first version. The courses were not laid horizontally but rather in a series of buttresses, inclined inwards at an angle of 75°. This greatly increased the stability of the finished structure by reducing the amoun of lateral stress (Figure 3). The core of the structure was made out of small blocks of limestone quarried on the site, encased in fine, white Tura Limestone quarried across the river. The feat is made more astonishing by the fact that building in stone was an entirely new idea in Egypt and huge numbers of stone masons and quarrymen would have to be trained. In fact, the final task would have been impossible without the earlier stages of construction to build up a skilled and experienced workforce along with the managers needed to organize everything.

The successive changes to the superstructure also involved some remodelling of the substructure of the tomb. Originally, this consisted of a vertical shaft 7 x 7 metres which was sunk to a depth of 8.5 metres and a passage running away from it to the north, beyond the edge of the mastaba. At some point, presumably when the first pyramid was planned, the decision was taken to continue the main shaft to a depth of 28 metres. To gain access, the floor of the passageway was also quarried away to create a stairway, stopping at a point about 9 metres from the bottom of the shaft. It ran right up to the surface but, when the pyramid was enlarged, the entrance was covered. So in the end, a much smaller tunnel was dug, swinging around in a broad curve from the passage to a courtyard of the Mortuary Temple (Figure 4). The Burial Chamber was simply a box made out of slabs of pink granite to form a small oblong room about 3 x 1.7 metres and 1.7 metres high. A small hole was left in the ceiling to admit the body— but there was no room for a sarcophagus. After the funeral, the opening was sealed with a granite plug weighing over 3.5 tons (Figure 5). Although the plug was found in place when the tomb was opened in the 1930's, the only human remains found within was a mummified foot which has been dated by radiocarbon to a period several centuries after Djoser's death. Surrounding the Burial Chamber was a network of stairways, galleries and chambers which were decorated with panels of faience tiles in imitation of reed matting (Figure 6).

The Mortuary Temple and Serdab

The Mortuary Temple was built up against the north side of the pyramid (in later times it was invariably found on the east side). The area was poorly preserved and has provided little useful information apart from the bare layout of the rooms (Figure 7). There were two large courtyards and two shrines, one for Upper Egypt and the other for Lower Egypt, where offerings were presented to Djoser's immortal soul. Next to the temple and likewise abutting the side of the pyramid, was a tiny courtyard, entered via stone gates, with a tiny, sealed room at the back (Figure 8). The room contained a beautiful painted limestone statue of Djoser sitting on his throne (right). Two holes had been bored at eye level so that the king could see and smell the offerings placed before him.

The Mortuary Temple from the Northwest

Seated Statue of Djoser from the Serdab

THE ENCLOSURE

Entrance to the Enclosure

The Entrance Colonnade

The stone walls which surrounded the site were about 10 metres high and were designed to mimic the mud-brick walls of a royal palace with its niche-and-buttress facade. Towers projected at 4 metre intervals on the mile-long circuit and there were no less than fourteen gateways, guarded by massive flanking towers. All of these gates except for one were false, however. The only actual entrance lay near the southern end of the eastern wall (Figure 9). The gate led to a long passage lined with 40 pairs of attached columns, carved with flutes to resemble bundles of reeds. The columns formed alcoves which may well have contained statues of the pharaoh. At the end was a small transverse vestibule with eight lotus-bundle columns to support the ceiling. A doorway led into the Great Court (Figure 10).

Ground Plan of the Djoser Complex

The Great Court

Aerial from the South, showing the South Tomb, Token Palace, Great Court and Step Pyramid

The Great Court (Figure 11) was an area 187 x 108 metres, enclosed by ‘palace facade’ walls. There was a raised throne dais with a ramp— just like that depicted on Den's label— on the northern edge, right next to the pyramid. Near the centre is a pair of horseshoe-shaped cairns— presumably the equivalent of those depicted in the reliefs and on the Den label. In this case, however, they were for the use of the soul of the deceased king, his 'ka.

At the south end of the courtyard was a Token Palace (Figure 12), a stone representation of the pavilion where the king rested and refreshed himself during the ceremonies. Like all of the replica buildings in the funeral complex, it was designed for

Horseshoe Markers at the north end of the Great Court

the 'ka which meant there was no need for actual rooms— the spirit of the dead king could pass through walls. The essential requirement was permanence, since they had to last throughout eternity.

The Southern Tomb

In the southern end of the Great Court sits a structure known as the Southern Tomb. It was a long building with a low, vaulted roof and an internal arrangement much like the substructure of the pyramid. The burial chamber was at the bottom of a shaft 30 metres deep and was made out of the same pink marble, but in this case it was tiny, barely 1.5 x 1.5 metres— hardly big enough to have held a body and a coffin. More likely it held ‘canopic jars’ containing the embalmed viscera of the king. It was surrounded by galleries and passages decorated with the same sorts of faience mosaics that are found in the pyramid. They are designed to represent corridors and rooms within some sort of building made out of reed mats— perhaps the royal palace itself. There are stone doorways with rolled up mats serving as doors— even the backs of the doorways are shown! (Figure 13)

One of the ‘doorways’ frames a relief showing Djoser taking part in his jubilee (heb-sed). This ritual was held, according to later accounts, after 30 years on the throne and then every three or four years after that. It is generally believed that the ceremony was instituted to replace the ritual killing of the

Shaft of the Southern Tomb

king when his strength and virility began to fail, a practice attested in pre-colonial Africa.

An important part of the ritual apparently involved the king emerging from a raised pavilion and running or dancing between horseshoe-shaped markers. The ritual was known as ‘encompassing the field’ and was the means by which the pharaoh established his claim to the kingdom, by beating its symbolic boundaries.

Ebony Label showing the Heb-Sed of the Dynasty I pharaoh, Den

The actual ceremony took place at the palace of the king, in a special field designed for the purpose and provided with various platforms, pavilions and shrines. The buildings were all constructed in the traditional manner, out of reed matting and supported by bundles of reeds. Of course none of these original structures would have

Djoser ‘encompassing the field’

survived, so it is fortunate that Djoser and Imhotep built a stone version so that the pharaoh could perform the ritual in perpetuity in the afterlife.

The Heb-Sed Court

In addition to the Great Court, there was another important ceremonial area connected with the king's jubilee located within the complex. To get there, you took a rather circuitous set of passages near the beginning of the Entrance Passage. The courtyard was lined with dummy chapels of two distinct types, representing those common to Upper and Lower Egypt.

Heb-Sed Court and Step Pyramid

Most of the buildings along the west side have a convex roof, typical of Delta shrines, supported by three engaged columns. The building copies the appearance of a reed hut supported by papyrus stalks— the columns have pendant leaves at the top. The typical Valley temple was a simple, rectangular structure supported by bundles of reeds at the corners ‘'toros-moulding’). The tops of the reeds were allowed to droop over, forming what is known as a ‘cavetto cornice’ (Figure 14). The stone replicas were pretty much solid masonry with rubble cores, apart from small chambers inside the false doors. Each had a niche for a cult statue and a small courtyard where sacrifices took place. They represented the temporary shrines which were erected for the king's heb-sed ceremony so that he might sacrifice to the gods of all parts of his kingdom. At the south end of the courtyard was a large throne dais, large enough for a pair of thrones, where the pharaoh would be crown twice in ceremonies for the north and south. Around the corner, over by the edge of the Great Court, was a small stone pavilion called the ‘Robing Hall’ (Figure 15) representing the pavilion where the king rested between ceremonies.

The Palaces of the North and South

The House of the South

These large rectangular buildings lie to the north of the Heb-Sed Court, along the east side of the enclosure. They were also patterned on reed structures and were very similar to the convex-roofed shrines of the Heb-Sed Court. They were ‘supported’ by 4 tapering engaged columns with large pendant leaves for capitals and square sockets to peg some sort of emblems. A frieze representing a rope of knotted grass (khekher) ran across the lower part of the facade—the asymmetrically placed door was ‘hung’ from this. (Figure 16). These probably represented the palatial residences of the ka. Like the rest of the buildings in the complex, they were pretty much solid although there was a small cruciform chamber. Each palace sat at the rear of its own, somewhat irregularly-shaped courtlard—the one belonging to the Southern Palace is larger and contained the remains of a horseshoe-shaped cairn, suggesting a ritual use. There was a shallow niche in the wall of the North Court which contained three engaged papyrus columns—a similar niche in the South Court presumably had lotuses.

Engaged Papyrus Columns in the courtyard of the Palace of the North

The Northern Court

Between the pyramid complex and the northern end of the enclosure was a large open area known as the Northern Court. Its specific purpose is unknown and work apparently came to an end before it was finished, probably due to the death of the king. There is a stone altar at the northern end, facing the pyramid. Underneath the alter were a number of subterranean galleries containing agricultural products—grape pips; sycamore figs; and grain have been found. Other galleries, largely unexplored, lay beneath the long terraces along the western side of the enclosure.

Aerial view of Saqqara showing Sekhemkhet's Pyramid (2) and other enclosures (3& 4)

Djoser's son and successor Sekhemkhet built a similar complex at Saqqara and there is evidence of at least two others to the west. Another member of Djoser's dynasty, Khaba, may have started the so-called ‘Layer Pyramid’ at Giza but with the rise to power of the Fourth Dynasty the stepped form gave way to the ‘true’ pyramid.

THE AFTERMATH

The practice of building on a monumental scale became standard among the pharaohs who succeeded Djoser and reached its apogee in the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza. The political benefits of such projects were obvious. “Idle hands are the devil’s tools.” and the pharaohs were well aware of the dangers of hundreds of thousands of farmers with time on their hands while the Nile was in flood. Not only did the pyramid project keep them busy but it also put them on the state payroll making them more dependent on the central government.

The logistical problems in a project of this scale were unprecedented. Thousands of people needed to be housed and fed. Material and supplies had to be moved from all over Egypt to the building site. The creation of a class of men who could handle such problems gave Egypt the managerial resources to take on any large and complex project— invading another country, for example, or putting together a large trading expedition. In addition, thanks to Imhotep, Egypt had a large pool of highly skilled artists and artisans— stone masons, sculptors, draughtsmen and painters.

The state put together by Djoser lasted for nearly 500 years with little sign of internal strife. After reaching its peak in Dynasty IV, the ‘pyramid industry’ was gradually wound down. The pharaohs of Dynasties V & VI continuted to build them but on a much reduced scale. Instead, much of the activity was diverted (as far as the visible record shows) to the tombs of private individuals.

Further Reading:

Lauer, Jean-Philippe	(1976)	*The Royal Cemetery at Memphis*
Lehner, Mark	(1997)	*The Complete Pyramids*

Land of the Pharaohs

Pyramid Bibliography