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The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt

Part V: The Mortuary Temple, Serdab,

Northern Courtyard and the West Mounds

The area north of the Pyramid proper at the Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser at Saqqara appears to be the least investigated.

At the foot of the north wall of the Step Pyramid is situated the imposing mortuary temple of the ruler, where his cult was celebrated. It is from here that the lower chambers of the pyramid are accessed. It may not have always been in its current position. It may have been moved north as the pyramid of Djoser was expanded.

The temple's longer axis is oriented east- west. The main entrance of this building, which has a floor that is slightly elevated in comparison to the surrounding buildings, was in the southeastern section. The entrance doorway had a door of stone that was made to imitate an open wooden door, a feature that can be found in other places throughout the complex. The complex included two courtyards on the east and west that were accessed by a long corridor from the entrance. From the Western court, a staircase ran down towards the Pyramid's substructure. Three gangways in the South wall of each court gave access to a wide gallery, running from East to West. Short walls, supporting two columns, separating the gangways from  each other. These columns, like the others in this complex, did not have a supporting function and are probably a rendering in stone of the columns used to support the roofs in wooden and mudbrick buildings. To the West of the two open courts, two more chambers can be discerned. Each chamber had a stone basin in its floor. Other elements probably symbolizing Upper and Lower Egypt. The inner, secluded part of the temple, which was adjacent to the pyramid, was entered through two double-columned porticos. Within, there were false doors so that the deceased could claim his offerings, and a cult statue of the king.

It is interesting to note that, while this funerary temple is on the north side of the pyramid, later temples were located to the east. At this early point in time, the funerary cult was still focused on the northern stars, where the deceased king was believed to take his place.

It is difficult to reconstruct the layout and meaning of the individual parts of the temple because of the confusing complex of rooms, corridors and courtyards, which differ considerably from other similar structures built in the preceding and following eras. It is also possible that the temple was originally intended to be much larger, but for unknown reasons such as the ruler's premature death, was scaled back in size.

Among the noteworthy archaeological discoveries made in the mortuary temple grounds are clay sealings belonging to a priest of the goddess Neith, which bear the name of King Sanakht.

Between the mortuary temple and the north pavilion is an extensive area known as the serdab courtyard, because of the small structure that stands near the entrance to the mortuary temple and against the northern wall of the pyramid. Here, the serdab, which is Arabic for cellar, consists of a small, enclosed chamber in which the north wall has a pair of round observation holes. The ancient Egyptians believed that through them, the statue of Djoser sitting on a throne could gaze out onto the forecourt and observe the rituals that were performed there. The serdab itself was dressed entirely in fine limestone and its front wall inclined by 16 degrees, the same inclination as the lowest step of the Pyramid. A small enclosure was erected in front of the serdab, with two entrances. As with the entrance to the mortuary temple, the main entrance, located in the North of the enclosure, is adorned with a door of stone that imitates an open wooden door.

The life-size, partly damaged, limestone statue of Djoser that was once housed here is now in the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo. This statue depicts Djoser wearing a close fitting mantle and a long, tripartite wig, together with the crown known as nemes. It very much radiates a feeling of great royal grandeur. Today, a replica statue occupies the serdab. There were a few other fragments, apparently of a statue that might have been similar to that found in the serdab, found in the mortuary temple grounds. Some Egyptologists have questioned whether perhaps a second serdab was located at the temple.

There was also found in the serdab courtyard many fragments of so-called boundary stelae that resemble those of the south courtyard. They probably marked the initial boundary of the royal tomb and were removed when it was extended and reconstructed.

North of the mortuary temple and the serdab courtyard is the north courtyard, which covers almost a third of the entire Djoser complex. This area has not yet been carefully investigated. However, in the northern part of these grounds, symbolic storehouses were found with round openings in their roofs through which grain was poured. There was also a group of chapels that are reminiscent of the buildings in the sed festival courtyard. On the northern edge of the complex, along its north-south axis, from the inner wall of the northern wing of the enclosure wall, is a raised platform accessed by a stairway ramp. Above, on the platform, there is a depression measuring about eight meters square and a few  centimeters deep. This enigmatic structure has led to an interesting and still unconcluded debate among Egyptologists.

Stadelmann, based on a short cursive inscription that reads, seket re (decline of Re), on an ostracon found not far away, thought that this was the site of a sun temple. Altenmuller, on the other hand, believes that an obelisk originally stood in this spot which was symbolic of the revered stone fetish in Heliopolis known as the benben. This is not altogether opposed to Stadelmann's theory. He bases his theory on the fact that Imhotep, the builder of Djoser's Step Pyramid, was also the high priest at Heliopolis. However, it must be noted that no fragments have been recovered of any obelisk on the grounds of Djoser's complex. In fact, a subsequent analysis of the inscription that Stadelmann based his theory on revealed that it bore not the name of a sun temple, but that of a pavilion connected with the sed festival. Others have believed this to be a stage, or podium which would have held a canopy with two thrones for the ceremonies of Djoser.

Zahi Hawass, in "The Treasures of the Pyramids", seems to believe that the structure was only used for offering purposes, and was linked with the northern part of the enclosure. It should be noted that the structure is shaped like the hieroglyph for offering. He points out that it resembles the small projection of Mastaba IV at Abusir, which dates to the reign of Den. Today, it is sometimes referred to as the North Altar.

For now, the question of the raised platform remains unanswered, and will probably have to await more extensive investigations of these grounds. Undoubtedly, excavations in this area will produce some interesting and possibly unexpected findings. Already, soundings in the Northern Courtyard have revealed so-called stairway tombs that are older than the complex itself. Also, it is interesting that Mariette discovered, near the previously mentioned platform, the Lion Altar, which Borchardt dated to the 2nd Dynasty.

To the west of the pyramid lying all along the western perimeter wall are the west mounds. There are three of these, but the westernmost and largest of them is about 400 meters long, 25 meters wide and 5 meters high. In its northern segment, the remains of a brick structure were unearthed. Lauer, the principal excavator of the site, believes that it was the lodging of the mater builder of the complex. The easternmost and lowest mound is immediately adjacent to the Step Pyramid.

Once again, the investigation of the west mounds is not yet complete, but excavations here have shown that there are no chambers in their superstructures. Besides size, the mounds also differ from each other in appearance. Lauer thought the easternmost had a flat roof, whereas the middle one had a gentle arched roof. The slightly inclined side walls were decorated with niches, while five shafts and staircases provided access to the substructure, which is composed of long, partly destroyed corridors and projecting side chambers. In some sections, a large number of  fragments of stone vessels were found, together with grains (barley and wheat) and dried fruit.

More investigation of these structures is needed. Lauer thought that Djoser's servants were buried here, while Stadelmann though that it was composed of older structures from the 2nd Dynasty incorporated into the complex. However, Stadelmann was almost certainly wrong. For one thing, the superstructure's masonry is probably made up of waste material from the Pyramid complex. Also, the west mounds lean on the Step Pyramid, suggesting that they were built at a later date.

Most Egyptologists currently seem to believe that this was a storage area more than anything else, which would explain the pottery fragments and grain found in the substructure.


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Egypt Feature Story The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt

Part IV: The South and North Pavilions,

The Sed Festival Complex and the Temple T

 

Temple "T" To the west of the Sed Festival Complex in the Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser at Saqqara, and adjacent to the Great Southern Court is the so called "T" Temple, which owes its name to Lauer's working identification of it as "T", and not to its shape. Like other buildings in the Djoser complex, it too uses the old, Early Dynastic Period construction method for mudbrick architecture expressed in its stone block composition. The temple, which could also be entered from the south and the east, consisted of an entry colonnade, an antechamber, three inner courtyards and a square room. Here, the columns were functional, supporting entirely the heavy limestone slabs in the ceiling without additional reinforcement. On the north wall of the square room were niches framed by delicately carved, fluted pilasters and topped by a frieze  

with the hieroglyphic symbols for djed ("endure"). There may also have been statues of the king in this room within the niches. Except for a torus molding on the South face, this building's exterior was undecorated. On the East side of this building, there was a dummy stone door in half-open position. Also, like many of the other structures in the complex, this building is also the subject of debate among Egyptologists and scholars. Ricke believed that it was a "royal pavilion" and like Firth, thought that it served as a symbolic resting place for the king and as a place for changing clothes during the ritual of the Sed Festival. Stadelmann saw it as a prototype of the later so-called temple palaces in the mortuary temples of the New Kingdom. The Sed Festival Court 

 

Just to the north of Temple "T" and parallel to the great southern courtyard is the Sed Festival Djoser complex is filled with symbolic buildings, having no real internal structure, to which a narrow passageway led, turning north right after the beginning of the entry colonnade. It can also be accessed from the South court, passing the Temple "T" and a carved wall, which is a unique feature in ancient Egyptian architecture. It should be noted that no inscriptions have been found to inform us of the purpose of this court, or even its name. Its modern day name, Sed Festival Court, is based on what it believed to have been this court's function. complex, with an overall area that is rectangular in form. The exact meaning of the word sed is not known, and in reality, not much is actually known about the celebration itself, which is generally seen as a ritual involving the king's accession to the throne and a ceremony of renewal intended to strengthen the ruler's power. This region of the

 

An open courtyard makes up the core of the Sed Festival complex. Its east and west sides were each initially flanked by a row of chapels. Actually, there were three different types of chapels here, each preceded by a small court. A stone imitation of an open wooden door provided access to these courts. The smooth facades of the twelve chapels on the east side were framed by half-round molding, and they were roofed with arched vaults. The chapels, built high and relatively narrow, each contained a niche in front which in turned held a statue. The model for this architectural element was the Lower Egyptian chapel type known as "per nu", which was originally built of mudbricks, wood, reeds and straw. There remains today three unfinished limestone Osirian statues of the king still standing on the east side of the courtyard. Two of these  

chapels have been reconstructed at the North side of the court. On the west side stood thirteen chapels with two styles of facades. One type is referred to as the "Hall of God" style (seh netjer), with a facade surrounded along the sides by half-round moldings. The roof of these chapels is flat, topped with an imitation in stone of palm-tree leaves sticking up and out of the building. This would become a template for many other Ancient Egyptian buildings. The "Great House" type (per uer) represented the Upper Egyptian shrine, which originally consisted of a light, wood-frame structure over which matting was attached. The facade was adorned with a group of three fluted half-columns, which imitated the plant herculaneum giganteum, including its dried flower petals. These capitals were unique in the history of Egyptian architecture. Their cubic abacus is flanked by a depiction of two leaves 

and has a cylindrical hole

 

used to hold a baton that bore divine or royal insignia. However, these attached columns, little more than highly raised reliefs, have no actual supporting function. A corniche, "supported" by two dummy pillars at the corners of the façade, followed the curve of the roof. The upper edge of the facade took the form of an arched vault. Just as on the east side, each chapel had a niche for a statue, which was accessible by a low ramp. Some chapels had imitation doors, which could be reached by narrow staircases. Only a couple of chapels on the West and East side of the court have been fully restored. The others have been reconstructed to a certain height, revealing their inner cores. On the north end of the western row of chapels a group of four statues originally stood, of which only the pedestals survive. On the right are two larger pedestals, while on the left are two smaller ones. They are usually thought to represent Djoser, his possible mother, Nimaathap, and his wife and daughter, Hetephernebti and Inetkaus, respectively. At the south end of the courtyard was an elevated platform on which the king's throne stood under a baldachin during the ceremonies. It was here that the ruler was symbolically crowned. It has two separate flights of stairs, one in the south and the other in the north, near the court's entrance. A small building, aligned north-south, stood in the southwest part of the Sed Festival complex. We still do not know its function, so it is simply referred to as the Small Temple. It also 

 

contained small, fluted half-columns. A corridor, whose arched shape repeats that of the southwest corner, provided access to this building from the coronation platform. Almost certainly, here as well the architect was influenced by the construction methods of the Early Dynasty Period. The curve is modeled on either woven mats or mudbrick masonry. Lauer Sed Festival later ceased to be expressed by this architecture, which was replaced instead by bas-reliefs in the mortuary temple and the sun temple. Arnold follows Ricke in seeing the complex as a prototype of a special room with images of the sed festival, which has been shown to have existed in the pyramid temples from the end of the 5th Dynasty on. This chamber has come to be called the antichambre carree (square antechamber). Stadelmann, based on Werner Kaiser's archaeological analysis of the construction of the complex, maintains that this room is not merely a structure symbolizing the sed festival, but is rather part of a more comprehensive scene of burial rituals. Seen from a functional point of view, the sed festival complex is close to the open statue courtyards of later pyramid temples from the 4th to the 6th Dynasties. The Pavilions of the North and South believed that the subject of the

 

East of the Mortuary temple is the North Pavilion, and just to the south of it is the South Pavilion. Neither of the pavilions are linked to the other. The southern building is thought to have been shaped like the predynastic shrine of the vulture goddess Nekhbet in Hierakonpolis, while the northern one is thought to represent the archaic shrine of Wadjet from Buto. A number of theories exist as to the significance of these two elements in the overall complex of Djoser. Lepsius thought that they were actually pyramids, and numbered them 33 and 34 accordingly. Firth, on the other hand, saw in them the tombs of the princesses Hetephernebti and Inetkaus, while Ricke thought them to be symbolic royal administrative residences of upper and Lower Egypt. Lauer, the main excavator of the site, had a similar view to Ricke, and it is his opinion that is currently most widely accepted by Egyptologists. He

 

thought that the pavilions symbolized the northern and southern parts of a united Egypt. After the ceremonies connected with the king's symbolic ascent to the throne, his ka, or soul, was supposed to go there in order to receive his subordinates from Upper and Lower Egypt. As is the case with the chapels in the Sed Festival Court, the interior of both pavilions is mostly solid. However, here, there was some limited internal structure. Both buildings have an asymmetrically placed entrance near the center of their front face. After two right turns, a narrow passage leads to some niches in the walls, that were probably intended to house statues.

The ceilings of these passages were carved to resemble the wooden logs that would have served as roofs in wooden and mudbrick buildings, a feature that can be found throughout the complex.
 

Recent research has also revealed that both pavilions were probably partially buried almost immediately after they had been built. This may perhaps have been intended to send these buildings into the Netherworld, where the king too would reside after his death. Part of the southern complex consists of an extensive courtyard accessible from the Sed Festival complex, as well as from the courtyard along the pyramid's east side. An altar with a base in the form of a capital letter D, is situated in the southwest corner of the courtyard. The east and south sides of the courtyard were decorated with niches. In the northeast part of the courtyard is the opening for a shaft that descends some twenty-five meters deep. Firth unearthed a considerable

 

volume of charred papyri in the courtyard, leading him to suggest that, in later times, the whole Saqqara necropolis was administered from this location. The ruins of the south pavilion, located on the north side of the courtyard, are indeed impressive. This structure, discovered in 1924, has been completely restored, including the blocks found in the opposite courtyard. Lauer Early Dynastic Period provided us with the identity and a reconstruction of this symbolic structure. It was constructed to simulate a the wood-frame and matting method in stone, with a slightly arched roof partially supported by four, engaged fluted half-columns. These columns were probably painted red, with black bases, and were supposed to represent cedar tree trunks. Above the entrance to the chapel ran a continuous frieze with hieroglyphic symbols for kheker ("decorate", "ornament"). Their model can be seen on the upper border, a colorful mat that in the decorated building's facades. At both sides of the facade, a dummy pillar "supported" a corniche that followed the curve of the roofs. These pillars did not have a true supporting function but were a copy in stone of the wooden beams that were used to mark the corners in wooden buildings.

18th and 19th Dynasty graffiti in the Southern Pavilion in the

Djoser Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara in Egypt Shaped like a letter L, the small chapel has at its end a sanctuary with a cruciform floor plan and three niches. Its wall are inscribed with visitors' graffiti from the 18th and 19th Dynasties, and include those of the treasury scribe Hednakht and the vizier's scribe, Panakht. These graffiti are actually of considerable historical importance, for they refer, for the first time, to Djoser as the owner of the complex and they also show that the structures were still in 
relatively good
 

  

condition at that time. The ground plan of the north pavilion is similar in many respects to that of the south pavilion, though the courtyard is smaller, has no niches and there was no altar found in this area. There is, however, a shaft in its floor that descends for twenty meters before leading into an underground gallery. Notably, on the east wall of this courtyard stand three papyrus half-columns, which are the oldest known examples of their kind. Of course, the papyrus was the symbolic plant of Lower, or Northern Egypt. Neither the facade of the north pavilion or the little chapel in it differ much from their counterparts in the south pavilion.

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The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt

Part III: The Primary Pyramid Structure

The Great Step Pyramid of Djoser, which dominates his complex at Saqqara near Cairo in Egypt, has been thoroughly studied in recent decades. Unfortunately, its examination has created just about as many questions as answers. These investigations have shown that its construction plan was changed several times, and that the pyramid's current form is the result of a long process of development that included both experimentation and improvised elements. This pyramid is considered to be the evolutionary basis of all later pyramids in Egypt. Initially, the structure took the form of a mastaba (stage M1), which was gradually enlarged, first equally on all four sides (stage M2), and then only on the east side (stage M3). During this latter stage, the mastaba already had a step shape. However, the step-shaped mastaba was finally rebuilt in two stages, first as a four-step pyramid (stage P1) and finally as a six-step pyramid (stage P2). Note, however, that in its final state it no longer had a square base, but a rectangular

one, oriented east-west. Also note that some scholars disagree on the construction stages of the pyramid.  In building the pyramid, the masonry was laid not vertically but in courses inclined toward the middle of the pyramid, thus significantly increasing its structural stability. The basic material used was limestone blocks. What led the builders to transform the structure from a mastaba into a pyramid is still a matter of debate. Lauer, who was the main excavator of the site, suggested that Djoser's intentions were to make the royal tomb visible from the Nile Delta. He also thought that in its initial stage (M1), the mastaba did not belong to Djoser at all, but to his predecessor, Sanakht, though there is no solid evidence for this theory. In fact, many Egyptologists now believe that Sanakht was a successor to Djoser.  Hartwig Altenmuller believed that the changes took place due to religious or ritual motivations. The shape certainly came to be a religious symbol in latter years. Czech astronomer Ladislav Krivsky believes that the builders of Djoser's tomb were inspired by the form of the rising and

setting sun. In fact, from time to time and under specific conditions, an optical illusion is produced that gives the sun's disk the form of a step pyramid as it rises in the morning or sets in the evening. Of course, in these early years one of the principal gods to receive the worship of the Egyptians was Re, the sun god.  It was Lauer who first noted that the original mastaba (stage M1) was actually square. Hence, the question arises as to whether the original stage of Djoser's tomb was actually intended to be a mastaba. Rainer Stadelmann suggested that, from the outset, the tomb was planned as a square-based pyramid.  New research conducted by an American expedition in the "great enclosures" in Abydos has demonstrated that, in the middle of the grounds, which were surrounded by a perimeter wall, a small mound of sand was covered with mudbricks. This symbolized the site of creation to the Egyptians, the resurrection and eternal life. Drawing on this symbolism, the original phase of the construction of the step Pyramid probably represented a stylized primeval mound, which for the first time, was directly connected in this form architecturally with the royal tomb.

The original entrance for the Step Pyramid's substructure (upon completion) was a tunnel running along the north-south axis during the first stage (M1). It ran from the floor of the mortuary temple's western court north of the pyramid. At the beginning of this tunnel was a staircase, and at its end there was a diagonal shaft measuring some 7 meters (23 feet) square. The

upper part

of this shaft originally sank through the whole superstructure from the roof terrace. Originally, a descending corridor was built joining the shaft from the north, which was probably used to remove waste from the shaft's construction. However, it was covered over during the expansion of the pyramid in stage P1.  The tomb chamber was located on the floor of the shaft, at a depth of about twenty-eight meters, in the so-called granite chamber. Over the burial chamber's ceiling was a room that Lauer called the maneuvering chamber, because it was there that the pharaoh's mummy was prepared for interment. The mummy was then moved down through a round opening in the floor which was afterward closed with a granite block weighing about three tons.   Soon after it was built, the burial chamber, made of pink granite blocks, may have undergone a complete transformation. In Lauer's opinion, the chamber was originally built only of limestone blocks and had a ceiling decorated with

stars. (Note that Mark Lehner, in his "The Complete

Pyramids, claims that Lauer thought the original burial vault had alabaster walls and a pavement of diorite or schist.)  During the reconstruction, the limestone blocks with the stars were removed, fragments of which were discovered in the surrounding area. However, StadelmannDjoser's mummy. In fact, recent radiocarbon dating shows them to be many centuries younger than Djoser. However, northwest of the burial chamber, in a small disagrees with Lauer because a ceiling built of these small, limestone blocks measuring only about .52 meters long would not have been structurally sound and would have soon collapsed. In his view, the limestone blocks with the stars were used to close up the door and the opening in the floor of the so-called maneuvering chamber. In its final form, the burial chamber consisted of four courses of well-dressed granite blocks and measured some 1.6 by 2.9 meters in size. Its only opening was a cylindrical aperture towards the north end. Once the royal remains were laid to rest, the hole was blocked with a granite plug weighing 3.5 tons, with four grooves to guide the ropes used to lower it. Afterwards, the descending corridor was filled.  Within the burial chamber, only minor bone fragments were found, and it is not clear whether they actually came from

corridor that thieves later destroyed down to its stone floor, a wooden chest was discovered bearing Djoser's Horus name, Netjerikhet. A complicated system of rooms and corridors surround the burial chamber, making up a genuine labyrinth, which Lauer investigated during the 1930s, though not in every detail. In fact, it is very difficult to ascertain what was a part of the original, unfinished construction project, and what was the work of later thieves. In immediate proximity to all four sides of the burial chamber are four galleries, which are connected with each other by corridors. Some of these subterranean areas were never completed. Zahi Hawass, now chairman of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), estimated that the total length of the corridors beneath the pyramid measure some 5635 meters in total length.  A stairway from the descending corridor took a series of turns and corridors, ending in an eastern chamber. Here, rows of blue faience tiles with raised bands of limestone simulated a reed-mat structure. Blue evokes the watery association of ancient Egypt's netherworld. The decoration was organized into six panels. Three on the north side were topped by an arch

supported by simulated djed pillars. One contained a real doorway.  Significantly, considering the lack of decoration of later pyramids, in this east gallery three southern panels framed false doors made of limestone, on which the ruler is twice depicted walking, wearing a red or white crown, and once standing, wearing the white crown. This last image is accompanied by the royal names and the emblems of the gods Anubis and Horus of Behdet. This chamber was never finished. The builders left the east wall roughly hacked from the rock, and the decorators seem to have finished in a hurry. All four walls of two further chambers were covered with the blue tile inlay and the doorways were framed with Djoser's name. Collectively, these rooms are sometimes referred to as the "blue chambers".   Many Egyptologists believe that the furnishing and decoration of these underground rooms were inspired by the real royal palace in Memphis. The bas-reliefs on the false doors are believed to refer to the ceremonies of the sed-festival, or an earlier version of that tradition.  During the second stage of construction (M2), eleven shafts approximately thirty meters deep were dug along the east facade of the tomb, which communicated with interconnected galleries to the west. These were probably intended for the wives and children of the king. In fact, the gallery that ran out of the fifth shaft (numbered from north to south) was found to contain an empty alabaster sarcophagus, and at the end of the shaft, a smaller wooden coffin with the body of a boy who died between the age of eight and ten years of age. Next to it lay two vessels decorated with gold leaf and carnelian coral. Other fragments of alabaster sarcophagi were discovered in the first and second shafts, while in the third a seal imprint bearing the name of

Netjerikhet was discovered. The third gallery widened into a room, cased with fine limestone where the hip-bone of a girl of about 18 years of age was found.  Yet, perhaps the greatest surprise for archaeologists was waiting in the other shafts, particularly in the sixth and seventh, where they discovered some forty thousand stone vessels of varied forms and materials. Many of them were made of alabaster, diorite, limestone and slate. Some were polished, faceted or fluted, while others bore inscriptions, engraved or painted in colors, with both royal and non-royal names. These included the names of 1st and 2nd Dynasty rulers, including Nar(mer), Djer, Den, Adjib, Semerkhet, Kaa, Hetepsekhemwy, Ninetjer, Sekhemib and Khasekhemwy. Of course, such a find immediately lunched a debate among scholars.  Lauer believed that the vessels were originally from the furnishings of royal tombs of the Early Dynastic period which were destroyed by the penultimate ruler, Peribsen, of the 2nd Dynasty. Afterwards, Djoser gave them a reverent final resting place in the substructure of his pyramid. Helck believed that the vessels came from the temple storehouses and, though he provided no

reason why Djoser would have piled them up in his tomb complex. Stadelmann thinks that Djoser had the damaged tombs of the Early Dynastic Period Kings near his own tomb restored, and the broken vessels dumped in his substructure for safe keeping. Finally, Donald RedfordOld Kingdom being destroyed. Many questions regarding these vessels remain. For example, if these vessels originated as funerary equipment in older tombs, why rebury only the vessels and not the other funerary good. Furthermore, why would the find include items belonging to rulers who were not even buried at Saqqara.  At any rate, these items were deposited during the second stage of construction (M2), and the shafts were sealed by the construction carried out in the third stage (M3).  In its final form, the Step Pyramid of Djoser rose to a height of about 62.5 meters with a ground plan measuring 121 by 109 meters, with an outer casing of fine Tura limestonethinks that in making preparations for the construction of his own tomb, Djoser must have had to remove a whole series of previous tombs built by his predecessors. Hence, he kept their furnishings, the vessels, and reverently had them buried in his own tomb in order to show his respect for the past. Of course, if Djoser were to have destroyed a whole series of his predecessor's tombs, the act in itself would have not shown much reverence.

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The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt

Part II: The Trench and Perimeter Wall,

the South Courtyard, And South Tomb

 

The Great Trench

The Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser at saqqara in Egypt was not only bounded by a monumental perimeter wall of limestone, but was also completely surrounded by an enormous trench measuring some 750 meters long by 40 meters wide. This trench, which was originally  carved out of the underlying rock, is now covered up with sand and rubble, but it remains clearly visible in aerial photographs and in photogrammetric maps of Saqqara.  The trench, which is actually the largest structure of its kind at Saqqara, resembles the hieroglyphic sign for h, "ground plan for a house.", forming a rectangle that is oriented north-south.

The southern segment is shorter, but in some parts it is doubled into two trenches with offset openings, making access to the true perimeter wall of the Djoser complex more difficult. Therefore, a single entrance to the whole complex from the south was probably created near the southeast corner.

The southern section of the trench was investigated by Selim Hassan, Zaki Saad and Ahmad Musa, all Egyptian archaeologists. Their study of the structure reveals that the walls of the trench were originally decorated with niches. Another Egyptian archaeologists, Nabil Swelim, thinks that the ancient Egyptians believed that these niches were the place where the spirits of the courtiers and magnates came out of the trench in order to serve the pharaoh after their deaths. However, this view is obviously based on the secondary tombs near the early royal burials in Abydos, in which, according to some Egyptologists, ritually killed servants were buried after the ruler's death. Nothing like this has been found at Saqqara, at least in the neighborhood of the Djoser complex.  The builders of the Step Pyramid complex of Djoser may have been influenced by a water canal that surrounded the royal palace in Memphis. Though we believe that the trenches were intended to make entry into the complex more difficult, it should also be noted that an enormous volume of underlying stone had to be cut away during the digging of the trenches, and this material has never been found. Miroslav Verner, well known for his work at Saqqara, suggests that the material could have been used in the construction of the Step Pyramid itself, and speculates that  the protective and religious functions of the Great Trench might only be secondary to a quarry operation. However, this seems somewhat odd, considering the effort made to cut niches into its sides.

The Perimeter Wall

The Perimeter Wall of the Djoser's complex is one of its best known features. It stood 10.5 meters high and was 1,645 meters long, covering an area of about 15 ha. The longer sides of the wall faced the East and the West. It was composed of a thick inner core of roughly laid masonry, encased entirely on the outside and partially on the inside with fine limestone.  The outer surface of the wall, modeled on woven mats, is decorated with niches and fifteen doorways, not quite equally distributed, around the complex. However, fourteen of the doors are false, while only one on the east facade near the southeast corner is a true entrance. There are also bastions protruding from the wall every four meters, with the exception of those that contain the doorways, which are larger. The latter include five bastions on the east wall, three on the north wall, four on the west wall and

three on the south wall.

Some Egyptologists believe that the decorative motif imitates a wooden-framed structure covered with mats, while others see in it a Mesopotamian influence. In ancient Egypt, niches often marked the places where sacrifices were brought to the spirit of the deceased. In reality, the alternating projections and recesses in the wall are different than those of the enclosure walls of the 2nd Dynasty at Abydos, but this arrangement can be found in the 1st Dynasty mastabas Memphite region.  Lauer believed that the perimeter wall was modeled on the earthly royal residence, the White Walls, and in fact the decoration has been frequently referred to as a palace facade. However, this view is somewhat contradicted by the large number of doors. located somewhat to the North of the Step Pyramid complex. Hence, the design is sometimes thought to have originated in the

Hermann Kees thought that  the fifteen doors were connected with the sed festival and referred to half the lunar month as the period for the ceremonies.

This motif is found on other monuments, probably directly inspired by Djoser's complex. For example, it can be found on the perimeter wall of Senusret III's pyramid complex in Dashshur and on the sides of his sarcophagus. Symbolically, the number fourteen could also, for example, represent the fourteen kas of the sun god, Re. The dead body of Osiris was also cut into fourteen pieces by his evil brother Seth. However, what these doorways represent remains a mystery. Others think that the enclosure wall is a model of a Lower Egyptian palace of mud brick from the Archaic Period, and in fact, the stone blocks of this impressive wall are the same size as the mud bricks of the Archaic Period.

The Entrance Colonnade

The single entry to Djoser's complex and the adjoining parts of the perimeter wall took some ten years, between 1946 and 1956, to reconstruct. A thorough investigation of the columned hall has shown that it was not built all at once, but in stages. It is characterized by some structural peculiarities. For example, its longer axis is not exactly oriented east-west, but is angled slightly to the southwest, and its outer walls are slightly inclined. The entry colonnade was apparently built along the old, "oblique" building that had at some time in the past stood in the southeast corner of the complex. This older building in fact owes its name to the fact that, in contrast to the other buildings in the complex, it was not aligned precisely with the four cardinal points.

Wolfgang Helck thought that the entrance colonnade was, as he termed it, a statue palace, in which the ruler's statue was originally housed. Erected during the king's lifetime, it represented the deceased pharaoh in the guise of  the Great White, a kind of baboon. The task of erecting the statue and conducting the resurrection ritual was given to the ruler's heir, who was therefore supposed to play the role of the future king. Helck based his view at least in part on fragments of stone statues that were unearthed by Firth. The torso of a statue of a king, and the base of Djoser's statue now in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, together with lions' heads and two busts of captive enemies of Egypt were found in the entrance hall. On the statues, alongside religious symbols, were the remains of an inscription that, besides Djoser's Horus name and his titles, also provided the name of Imhotep, which has led some Egyptologists to believe that this high priest of the temple of the sun in Heliopolis, leading royal architect and builder of this step pyramid, was also Djoser's son. However, this raises several questions. Imhotep appears to have outlived Djoser, but never became king, so if he was a son, he was apparently not Djoser's heir.

On the other hand, Hans Goedicke thought that the structural arrangement of the hall reflects a symbolic conception of the court of judgment. The side chambers between the columns would be reserved for two enneads as judges, presiding over the ruler.  Today, the entrance section consists of a corridor with a limestone ceiling made to look as though it were made from whole tree trunks, a decorative motif that occurs throughout the complex. After these doors, is the passage into the interior of the complex, which consists of a long hall with twenty pairs (40 total) of limestone columns. The corridor is divided into two unequal parts between the twelfth and the thirteenth pair of columns. Today, the roof of the colonnade has been added by the restorers, and is somewhat higher than the original, allowing more light to enter this part of the building. At its termination, within a very large portal, stands a stone imitation of two open doors. Reaching a height of almost six meters, the columns in the colonnade were composed of drum shaped segments. However, they were not freestanding, but were rather connected with the side walls by masonry projections. At this early date, the architects obviously did not yet trust columns as sole supports, for the most part. The form of the columns is modeled on a bundle of plant stems. Lauer thought that a bundle of reeds might have been used in early times to support a light roof. However, Herbert Ricke, who was a respected German expert on ancient Egyptian architecture, thought that the columns imitated the ribs of palm fronds, which were used in early building projects to protect the fragile and exposed ends of walls made of mudbricks. He also thought that the columns were originally painted green.

Between the columns, on both sides, were twenty-four small chambers, which some Egyptologists believe represented chapels for each of the nomes (provinces) of Upper and Lower Egypt.  However, there were no remains found in these chambers of decorations or sculptures that might have depicted the main gods or other motifs associated with the ancient Egyptian nomes. At the west end of  this colonnade stood the so-called transverse vestibule, a chamber somewhat wider than the corridor, which was decorated with four similar attached columns about one meter shorter than those in the colonnade. The columns here have a diameter of one meter at the base of the shaft. Just below the abacus, they measure about.7 meters in diameter. These columns, after thousands of years, still show traces of red paint, perhaps to imitate the color of wood. Like those in the colonnade, they had no real supportive function.

The South Courtyard

The entry corridor ends with its columned vestibule into a large, open courtyard to the south of the Step Pyramid and north of the south wing of the perimeter wall. It measures some 180  meters by 100 meters. The walls around this court were dressed in fine limestone, parts of which still remain visible today. The recessed panels on this wall are similar to those on the outside of the enclosure wall, but on the inside of the complex, there are no protruding bastions.

This courtyard originally contained only a few buildings. In its northeast corner stood a small temple with three niches and a low limestone altar, which was attached to the south side of the Step Pyramid. This altar was accessed by a small ramp, in front of which a bull's head was found in a cavity lined with limestone.

About in the middle of the courtyard, there were two low, limestone buildings. They had a ground plan that resembled the capital letter, B. While their purpose is still hotly debated, because of their form, which reminds us of the half moon shaped objects on Narmer's stone mace, they have been associated with the king's symbolic royal stride around his palace during the sed festival.

Among the interesting archaeological discoveries made in the south courtyard was that of a limestone block with the remains of Khaemuase's restoration text. Khaemuase was a son of Ramesses II and the high priest of the temple of Ptah in Memphis. He is also known for his interest in the monuments of his royal ancestors in the Memphis necropolis. On many of these monuments, inscriptions evidence that the prince ordered damaged monuments to be repaired. In fact, his own monument erected near the Step Pyramid complex, which a Japanese expedition discovered only a few years ago, sits on a rocky rise west of the Serapeum at Saqqara.

The South Tomb

Another of the most well known, yet enigmatic structures in the whole Djoser complex is a low building in the southwest corner of the south courtyard. It is situated against the enclosure wall and immediately facing the entrance hall. This is the so-called South Tomb.

The south tomb has its own cult chapel, built to the north of the superstructure. Its exterior has niches over which a frieze of cobras protect the facility. It is topped by small drums, suggesting rolled reed mats. An entrance leads from the north into a small room. Lauer thought that a statue of the king once stood here, but Ricke believes that this was where the royal crowns of Upper and Lower Egypt were kept.

The substructure of the south tomb is entered through an ascending, tunnel corridor with a staircase. About halfway down this passage, a magazine measuring 18 by 1.6 meters was found to contain some large jars, that may have contained food offerings. On top of these, a wooden stretcher, a box and posts forming a baldachin had been left. About thirty meters into this corridor, at about the point where, if we projected the line of the Step Pyramid's north-south axis the corridor would cross it, an inclined shaft opens measuring about seven by seven meters. At the bottom of this shaft some 28 meters deep is a burial chamber of pink granite measuring 1.6 by 1.6 meters with a height of 1.3 meters. This  chamber, though smaller, is almost an exact  copy of the tomb under the Step Pyramid.

Also as in the Step Pyramid, there was even a maneuvering chamber. In fact, the descending corridor with the staircase continues west and leads to a gallery that imitates the subterranean blue chambers under the Step Pyramid, and here as well, were bluish green faience tiles and three false doors made of limestone. On these doors, the king was represented only walking while wearing the White Crown, but twice in a relaxed pose, wearing the Red Crown. Actually, the decorations in the subterranean levels of the south tomb, which are less complex than those beneath the Step Pyramid, are more perfect, less damaged and more detailed than that of the underground chambers of the Step Pyramid, which supports the idea that it was completed earlier, with more time to perfect its decorations. Many scholars have thought that this is Djoser's real tomb. Yet, on religious grounds, it is difficult to understand why the king would have gone to the trouble of building a large pyramid and then not have had himself buried beneath it.

The function of the south tomb remains obscure. Certainly, in many ways, the substructure replicates that of the tomb under the step Pyramid, but there are also some significant differences. For example, in the tomb beneath the Step Pyramid, the floor plan is oriented along a north-south axis, and so is the access corridor leading to it. However, in the south tomb, the same elements are oriented along an east-west axis. During the Old Kingdom, only the Bent Pyramid at Dahshur had a west entry. The north-south orientation of the main tomb can be explained by the influence of the then dominant astral religion, according to which the king's spirit was supposed to become one of the northern circumpolar stars. However, the east-west orientation, in contrast, would be an expression of the solar religion that was only now establishing itself during Djoser's time.

James Quibell, the British Egyptologist, suggested that after Djoser's birth, his royal placenta was ritually buried in the south tomb. However, there is no written or archaeological evidence to support this view. Furthermore, the death rate among children, even royal children, was high, and who would become king was always a matter of which children survived.

Firth initially believed that the south tomb functioned as a symbolic tomb in the context of the sed festival, but ultimately he decided that it was a provisional tomb, prepared in the event that the death of the ruler occurred unexpectedly during the construction of his royal burial complex. The celebrated British pyramid scholar, Eiddon Edwards, who was inspired by Firth, though that the bas-reliefs on the structure proved that Djoser intended to use the south tomb for his burial. In this regard, one might also consider the tomb from the standpoint of one who was not originally the heir to the Egyptian throne. There were a number of kings who only became heirs to the throne after the death of an older sibling. Many of them began, or built tombs that were later expanded or abandoned for more glorious complexes after becoming king. However, many scholars believe that the tomb chamber is actually too small to have ever held a sarcophagus.

Lauer, the primary excavator of the complex, thought that the south tomb was a symbolic substitute for interment in the royal cemetery at Abydos.

According to Ricke, the south tomb was a characteristic Lower Egyptian tomb type from Buto, in contrast to the Upper Egyptian Step Pyramid. He saw in the south tomb a place where the ka, or spirit of the king was laid to rest. Altenmuller's analysis of texts on the royal burial ritual lent further support to Ricke's view. Gustave Jequier, a Swiss Egyptologist, also thought of the south tomb as a place for the symbolic burial of the king's ka, but was also the first to seek a connection between it and the small cult pyramids found in later pyramid complexes.

Barring additional finds that might clear up matters somewhat, many scholars now seem to believe that the best solution is a combination of Jequier's view and Lauer's. It seems that the south tomb may have been the burial place of the king's ka and at the same time, a symbolic substitute for the ruler's tomb in southern Egypt. It is generally thought today that the south tomb is the forerunner of the cult pyramid of later complexes.

The discovery of the south tomb is somewhat interesting. Firth and Lauer discovered it together, but because Lauer was slimmer than Firth, it was he who first forced himself through the small opening in the maneuvering chamber and into the underground part of the tomb. Several seconds later, he called out in great excitement to Firth, who was waiting at the opening, "Stelae! There are stelae in here!". During the coming days, there was grueling work and great excitement at the discoveries made. Lauer recounts one interesting tidbit.

It seems that the bluish green faience tiles had fallen from the walls and were covered with dust. One day, he and Firth's wife, Winifred, decided to gather them up and clean them. They took them into the little house used by Firth, and Lauer left to do other work. However, he had only gone a few steps when he heard a loud hissing sound. Terrified, he hurried back to Mrs. Firth, who explained that she had decided to soak the tiles in pails of water. When the faience, which had been drying out for thousands of years, came into contact with the water, a powerful reaction resulted.

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