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Imhotep Museum
Museum at Saqqara · also called Saqqara museum, Imhotep Museum Saqqara
The Imhotep Museum, at the entrance to Saqqara, is named after the man whose name is carved on a statue base of King Djoser, the one inscription from his lifetime known to name him. Its well-lit cases hold inscribed finds from the site, a good place to learn the signs before the worn tomb walls.
The museum sits at the foot of the plateau, a short walk from the Step Pyramid. A few bright, quiet halls show finds from Saqqara, from the earliest royal monuments to Late Period burials. Many carry hieroglyphs: statue bases, false doors, coffins and stelae. Labels are in Arabic and English.
Imhotep was Djoser's chief official around 2650 BC and is traditionally credited with designing the Step Pyramid. On the statue base, beside the king's Horus name Netjerikhet, a separate text lists his titles, among them chancellor of the king of Lower Egypt and high priest of Heliopolis. Centuries later Egyptians worshipped him as a god of wisdom and medicine, and the Greeks linked him with their healer Asklepios.
Another hall honours the French architect Jean-Philippe Lauer, who spent most of the 20th century studying and rebuilding Djoser's complex. Blue-green faience tiles from the rooms under the Step Pyramid are set as they were on the walls. They copy woven reed mats in glazed tile. Displays change as excavations at Saqqara bring new finds.
Inscriptions to see
Statue base naming Imhotep
If the base is on show when you visit (it has also been displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo), find the king's serekh first, then Imhotep's name and titles beside it.
Faience tiles of Djoser
Tiles from the chambers under the Step Pyramid, set in their original pattern.
Lauer room
Drawings and notes from Jean-Philippe Lauer's decades at the Step Pyramid.
Inscribed finds from Saqqara
Statues, false doors and coffins with offering formulas and owners' names, clearly carved and well lit.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Falcon G5ḥr The Horus falcon tops the serekh of the king's name on the statue base.
- Cloth on a pole R8nṯr The netjer sign begins Netjerikhet on the statue base, and appears in priests' titles on other objects.
- Bee L2bit The bee, bit, writes the king of Lower Egypt in Imhotep's title of chancellor.
- Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp The hotep sign is in Imhotep's own name, and opens the offering formulas on false doors and coffins.
- Column O28iwn The column, iun, writes Heliopolis in Imhotep's title of high priest.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Come here first. Reading the signs in good light makes the worn walls outside much easier.
- Glass reflects. Hold your phone close to the case at a slight angle, and avoid flash.
- The clear carving here suits the live camera in Hiero Lens.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Who was Imhotep?
The chief official of King Djoser around 2650 BC, traditionally credited with the Step Pyramid. He was later worshipped as a god of wisdom and medicine.
Is the Imhotep Museum included in the Saqqara ticket?
It has usually been part of the general Saqqara entry. Ticket rules change, so check at the ticket office.
Where can you see Imhotep's name in hieroglyphs?
On a statue base of King Djoser found at the Step Pyramid. It has been shown both here and in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, so ask where it is when you visit. No other inscription from his lifetime naming him is known.
Also at Saqqara
Step Pyramid of Djoser
The writing at the Step Pyramid is sparse but early. Here the king's own name, the Horus Netjerikhet, is carved inside a serekh on reliefs of his jubilee race, around 2650 BC; the name Djoser comes from much later visitors.
MonumentSerapeum of Saqqara
In the Serapeum the writing to find is on a few of its giant stone sarcophagi: columns of hieroglyphs and royal cartouches, among them the name of Amasis of the 26th Dynasty. The galleries were the burial place of the Apis bulls, living images of Ptah of Memphis.
MonumentPyramid of Unas
The Pyramid of Unas holds the oldest Pyramid Texts, carved around 2350 BC: columns of hieroglyphs filled with blue paint that cover the king's burial rooms from floor to ceiling.
MonumentPyramid of Teti
Inside the Pyramid of Teti, first king of the Sixth Dynasty (c. 2345 BC), the walls carry Pyramid Texts in columns of hieroglyphs under a gabled ceiling of stars. It is the second royal set of these spells, after Unas.
MonumentMastaba of Ti
In the Mastaba of Ti every scene has its hieroglyph captions: you can read what the farmers, boat builders and herdsmen are doing, and sometimes what they say. The reliefs, from around 2400 BC, are some of the finest of the Old Kingdom.
MonumentMastaba of Mereruka
The Mastaba of Mereruka is packed with captioned scenes and long titles carved in hieroglyphs, in more than thirty rooms. Mereruka was vizier of King Teti around 2340 BC, and this is the largest tomb of any Old Kingdom official at Saqqara.
MonumentMastaba of Ptahhotep and Akhethotep
Ptahhotep's chapel keeps some of the best-preserved colour of any Old Kingdom relief, with crisp painted hieroglyphs and a long offering list you can read item by item. The tomb dates to the late Fifth Dynasty, around 2400 BC.
MonumentTomb of Horemheb at Saqqara
The reliefs in Horemheb's Saqqara tomb show him as army commander under Tutankhamun, around 1320 BC, with captions spelling out his military titles. On some figures a royal cobra was added to his brow after he became king.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.