Saqqara

Saqqara is one of the most large archaeological sites in Egypt! It was the burying ground for Memphis, the capital of Ancient Egypt, nevertheless it is still one of the virgin archaeologic sites.

This ai a list of the most famous monuments in Saqqara:

Gisr el-Mudir

 

Imhotep Museum

Mazghuna

Step Pyramid of Djoser

Pyramid of Unas

Tomb of Irukaptah

The Serapeum

Mastaba of Ti

Monastery of St. Jeremias

The Pyramid of Userkaf

Pyramid of Teti

Tomb of Nefer-her-ptah

Single Mastaba of Nebet and Khenut

Tomb of Nefer and Companions

Tomb of Mereruka

Mastaba of Kagemni

Mastaba of Kagemni

Inside the mastaba of Kagemni

From mastaba of Kagemni

Kagemni followed the rules of both the Third (2649-2575 B.C.E.) and 4th (2575-2465 B.C.E.) Dynasties of Egypt. He acted as the mayor of the capital of Memphis for Huni (2599-2575  B.C.E.)  and  as  a  vizier  for  Sneferu (2575-2551 B.C.E.). Kagemni, nonetheless, is famous for his Teachings, written for him by a scriber named Kaires, a clarifying  text  referred with  special  attitudes  of  service and  dedication  on  the  part  of  high-ranking  officials. Kagemnis  tomb  at  Saqqara, near the pyramid of Teti was  L-shaped  and  represented  dancers,  acrobats,  hunting, scribblers, and agricultural settings in pretty reliefs. There were pits included in the tomb for tone boats as well.

Mastaba belongs to an official who was appointed as a chief of justness, the highest governmental post in old Egypt, in the reign of the king Teti the 1st king of the sixth dynasty.

Kagemni was a son in law to the pharaoh and this was why he responsible him with such a high post. This enabled Kagemni to build an some ornamented tomb close to the pyramid of his king Teti. With his high put up and royal connecters, Kagemni was effective to get the best Egyptian workers of the time to progress his tomb.

Mastaba is on the dot located to the northwestern of the pyramid of Teti and to the northwest of the main pyramid at the complex of Saqqara, the step pyramid of King Djoser. This location reflects the essential power of such a high govermtal situation of the time.

This Mastaba tomb, which is an serious stage in the conversion from Mastaba building to pyramids building, was first discovered by Richard Lepsius, opening up Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology, in 1843.

Tomb of Mereruka

Entrance of the tomb of Mereruka

Mereruka served King Teti (2323-2291 B.C.E.) as vizier, chief justice, and the executive program of Tetis cult personnel. The son of  the  noble  Nedjetempet,  Mereruka  married  Princess Sesheshet, also addressed  Idut. She  was  Tetis  daughter. His son was Meryteti. Mereruka made the royal tomb of Teti as part of his responsibilities as vizier.

Mererukas have tomb in Saqqara is  a  amazing monument, spread by his grand wife and son. The tomb contains more than thirty chambers and was designed as a vast mastab

Tomb of Mereruka

A serdab was likewise part of the design. Scenes of gardening, fishing, fowling, hunting, harp playing, scribes, spreads, pets, and dwarves cater historical data of the period.

Tomb of Companions and Nefer

On the south side of the causeway leading to the Pyramid of King Unas is the Tomb of Nefer and Companions from the 5th Dynasty, in all probability the family or communal tomb of a guild of singers. It has a single chamber, 8 meters long, with nine tomb shots. In one of these was found the mummy of a naked man, raised only with a necklace of blue pearls, lying on his side with his legs more or less bent, as if asleep. The walls, looked with plaster, display a rich kind of reliefs. On the left hand wall are 5 rows of pictures from everyday life, letting in woodworkers, producing scenes, and a particular and informative scene depicting the debut of a boat. On the right wall the dead men are depicted with their wives at a funeral junket.

Single Mastaba of Nebet and Khenut

Mastaba of Nebet

To the northwest of the Pyramid of King Unas is the big Double Mastaba of "Nebet" and "Khenut", Unas's wives, which earlier covered an area of 161ft/49m by 72ft/22m and stood 13 ft/4 metre high. Both tombs have the very ground plan and layout, reflecting the equal status of the two occupiers. Khenut's tomb, to the west, is much finished, but Nebet's is well kept and worth close inspection.

The entrance, on the southwest side, leads into an antechamber of some size, the walls of which are decorated with rests of the dead Queen navigation in a boat through the marshes, etc. To the left (westward) of this chamber is a spacious open court, without decoration, and straight on is a second, earlier, antechamber with highly unusual mural eases showing Nebet with servants bringing in food and sledges laden with great jars; one of the women of the serail is a dwarf. On the north wall, preceding the door, Nebet is read seated in front of votive oblations.

Mastaba of Nefer-her-ptah (The Bird Tomb)

A mastaba that belonged to Nefer-her-en-Ptah who went during the 5th Dynasty. His principal title was "the head of the stylists of the Great House". It is a small tomb of just one room mounted with interesting but undone paintings that are finely executed. It disagrees from the other graves for several concludes. First, the paintings are done in red ochre, then adjusted and finished in grey on which the sculptors had not begun to run the reliefs. The decorations show scenes from agricultural life, such as milking, checking hearts, wine pressing, gathering of Acer pseudoplatanus figs, and the cultivation of gardens. On the crowning panel of the west wall, there is a signal big scene of bird hunting that gives the tomb the name, the bird tomb.

Pyramid of Teti

Pyramid of Teti

The pyramid of Teti was constructed at North Saqqara on the only left spot, south of the 1st and 2nd Dynasty mastabas and to the north of the pyramid of Userkaf. By this time, the layout of the complex, both inside and right, had become almost standardized, though the chapel in front of the entrance to the tomb is somewhat of a freshness. The pyramid had a paced core with a smooth outer incase. Inside, a corridor comes from the north to a chamber. After this, a further, horizontal corridor passes by three portcullises before

Text show cartouche of Teti from his pyramid

The mortuary complex outside was accessible by means of a valley temple and causeway, both now lost. Large magazines flanked the long entrance hall and the court behind, here embedded by square granite pillars reminiscent of those of the fourth Dynasty. Beyond the endless and bare transverse hall lay the inner apartments of the temple; a chamber with 5 cult niches followed by a square vestibule and the offering chapel itself, also embedded by magazines.

The Pyramid of Userkaf

The Pyramid of Userkaf

The Pyramid of Userkaf is settled at Saqqara at the northeast of Djoser's complex. It was built by pharaoh Userkaf, first pharaoh of the fifth Dynasty who ruled Egypt for 7 years. This pyramid was built as the ancient Egyptians think in resurrection. Userkaf was buried in this pyramid according to the ancient Egyptian concept of life after death.

The localized description for the the pyramid is el-haram el-makherbish "ruined pyramid". The pyramid is not on the tourist track and requires a 30 minute track up the soft sand from the step pyramid to

Ruins of the Dead Temple arround the Pyramid of Userkaf

make. The pyramid has been stripped of its outer casing and looks as a deal of rubble. Part of the black basalt give court floor is still visible. A satellite pyramid, 21 metre square, and third pyramid just south of the enclosure wall, was apparently for a queen whose name is Neferhetepes. The open courtyard seems to be in a trench assorted meter lower than the close desert. Egyptologist are still debating the reasons why Userkaf, the foqualitynder of the fifth Dynasty , would build his pyramid on this certain location, away from the fifth Dynasty necropolis of Abusir or his herald Shepseskaf in south Saqqara . Userkaf precious to be close the Djoser's step pyramid and this positioning is in all probability for political and dynastic causes.

Monastery of St. Jeremias

The Principal Church of the Monastery of St. Jeremias

The ruined monastery of the Coptic St. Jeremias (Jeremiah) dwells south of the causeway of the pyramid of King Unas on the inch of the desert plateau of Saqqara, due east of the New Kingdom necropolis. This monastery was set up in the late fifth century AD, perhaps by Jeremias himself, and it functioned up to the middle of the 9th century. It was first turned up between years 1906 and 1909 aside the British archaeologist J.E. Quibell, who found many remains of stone carving and painted plaster decoration, most of which is nowadays on display in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. Numerous building blocks of the monastery had been got from the ancient tombs of Saqqara, admitting limestone rests from Old Kingdom mastabas and from the nearby New Kingdom tombs. Limestone was only applied for the 4 churches of the complex; the mobile phones of the monks and other utilitary structures were established in mudbrick.

Mastaba of Ti

Iside the Mastaba of Ti

Ti was an serious official in the fifth Dynasty. He did under both King Neferirkare and King Niuserre.  He had legion different titles, but the most worthy of these were likely overseer of all works of the king.  He seems to have been in charge of building the pyramids of both Neferirkare and Niuserre and galore other sun temples. The embarrassment of titles and large size of his L shaped mastaba speak to his importance in 5th Dynasty government.  His mastaba measured 42  meter x 34 m at its widest points.  It is also fair proper in that it has two serdab chambers.  The tomb was situated in the north mastaba astudiest Saqqara.

The basic structure is as follows: a portico that takes onto a columnar hall.  One serdab is on the north side of this hall, while a corridor leads south into the chapel of the mastaba.  This corridor is divided into 2 breaks; a storeroom is set just west of the second part of the corridor.  Two pillars are in the chapel, while the serdab is situated on the north side. 

The eases in this tomb are absolutely getting, and (in my opinion) among the finest in the Old Kingdom.  Pictures of animal husbandry, boat making, tracing, butchering, and the procession  of the nomes, offering scenes, brewing, and harvest scenes (amongst numerous others) feature in this tomb. 

Single series of relief work that I found particularly interesting was the advance of the nomes offering sceneI wasn't aware that this kind of scene was found in interior tombs not just an offering scene, but an actual procession of the domains of Egypt. The contingent work on the baskets of the offer bearers is amazing, with close striations/ridges perhaps connoting wicker or reed work.  Virtually all basket is individualized could this ponder produce that was known specially well from particular localizations.  This scene is discovered on the north wall of the chapel.

The hippo-hunt scene in particular interesting. It is found just above the exhibit of the domains on the central part of the north wall, and is arguably the focal point of this wall of the chapel.  In addition to being a motif that features in other Old and New Kingdom tombs (did it only develop in the fifth dynasty?), I'm fascinated by a lot of the details in this scene as well: just below the boat on the right, a crocodile and hippo attack one another.  Ti points the hunt, but does not participate directly in the housing of the hippo. This scene would seem to have a kind of hot appreciate.

The Serapeum

The Serapeum

The Serapeum houses the rock-cut underground burial chambers of the Apis cops. Apis, the sacred bull of the god Ptah, was worshiped in a temple of his own, and after his dying was embalmed and buried with serious pomp. From the time of Amenophis III, and belike earlier, the Apis tombs consisted of an underground chamber recorded by a sloping shaft. In the prevail of King Ramses II, Prince Khaemweset fabricated a common burial position for all the Apis bulls consisting of an underground corridor 100 meters long flanked on both sides by chambers in

Statue of Apis at the Serapeum

which the woody coffins of the bulls were included. 20 of the chambers here settled contain the sarcophagi of processed black or red granite, each hewn from a one block where the Apis bull mummies were housed. They standard some four meters in length and are estimated to press 65 tons.

Tomb of Irukaptah

Tomb of Irukaptah

Irukaptah was the Chief of Butchers during the reign of different  pharaohs  and  was  swallowed  in  the  royal  complex  of Saqqara as a signal of his rank and faithful overhaul. Irukaptahs  fine  burial  site  held  reliefs  and  paintings showing  the  butchering  of  animals.  He  also  approved KA statues for his burial site.

The grave of Irukaptah is located in the west group, 9.5 meter under the level of the Unas causeway and 10.5 metre from its south side. It can be given by the modern staircase which runs aboard the causeway (see tb-610). The tomb was dug at the base of a small cliff in ranked limestone which overhangs it by 17 meter and the tomb also takes on a courtyard. It is one of the largest of the group (13.45 metre from north to south) and it disagrees from all others by its exceptional interior statues, carved directly into the rock. On the other hand, the radicals of the decoration are limited and banal for the era on the situation of Saqqara, similar ones can be discovered, for instance, in the identified mastaba of Ti.