Hiero Lens

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Step Pyramid of Djoser

Monument at Saqqara · also called Djoser Pyramid, Pyramid of Djoser, Step Pyramid, Netjerikhet, Zoser pyramid

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.

The six-stepped pyramid, the first large stone building in the world, stands in a walled complex that copies reed, wood and brick buildings in stone. Tradition credits it to Imhotep. His name and titles are carved on the base of a statue of the king found here.

In his own time the king used his Horus name, written in a serekh: a palace front topped by the Horus falcon. Cartouches came later. The name Djoser appears in later writing, including ink notes in hieratic left in the complex by New Kingdom scribes who came to admire it, more than a thousand years after it was built.

What to see and read

Jubilee court

Dummy shrines for the king's Heb-sed jubilee, renewed forever in stone.

Serdab

A stone box with two eye holes holds a copy of Djoser's seated statue; the original is in a Cairo museum.

Blue-tiled underground rooms

Under the pyramid and the South Tomb, relief panels show the king running his jubilee race, named as Netjerikhet. They open only at times.

Names you can find here

Signs to look for

  1. Falcon G5ḥr The Horus falcon perches on the serekh that holds the king's name.
  2. Cloth on a pole R8nṯr The netjer sign, god, is the first part of Netjerikhet.
  3. Belly with udder F32ẖ The belly with udder writes khet, body, at the end of Netjerikhet, "divine of body".
  4. Arm with a wand D45ḏsr The arm with a wand writes djeser, holy: the later name Djoser.
  5. Alabaster basin W3ḥb The festival basin writes heb, as in the Heb-sed jubilee the complex was built for.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

  • Learn the serekh name in the Imhotep Museum first: the complex itself has little writing in the open.
  • If the underground rooms are open, photograph the panels without flash and trace the name 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 built the Step Pyramid?

It was built for King Djoser of the Third Dynasty. Its design is traditionally credited to his official Imhotep.

Can you go inside the Step Pyramid?

The interior reopened after restoration in 2020. Ask at the ticket office if it is open when you visit.

Also at Saqqara

Monument

Serapeum 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.

Monument

Pyramid 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.

Monument

Pyramid 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.

Monument

Mastaba 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.

Monument

Mastaba 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.

Monument

Mastaba 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.

Monument

Tomb 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.

Museum

Imhotep Museum

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.

Where it is

Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.