Step Pyramid of Djoser: Egypt’s first pyramid

The Step Pyramid of Djoser, constructed at Saqqara about 4,700 years ago,  was the first pyramid the Egyptians ever built.

The ancient Egyptian pharaoh that gave the pyramid its name, Djoser, sometimes spelled Zoser (though he was actually called Netjerykhet) ruled during Egypt's third dynasty. Scholars attribute the planning of the pyramid to Imhotep, a vizier who would later be deified for his accomplishments.

"Djoser is the name given to this king by New Kingdom visitors to the site over a thousand years later” wrote Egyptologist Mark Lehner in his book "The Complete Pyramids: Solving The Ancient Mysteries" (Thames & Hudson, 2008). 

The pyramid started off as a mastaba tomb — a flat-roofed structure with sloping sides — and, through a series of expansions, evolved into a 197-foot-high (60 meters) pyramid, with six layers, one built on top of the other. The pyramid was constructed using 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters) of stone and clay. The tunnels beneath the pyramid form a labyrinth about 3.5 miles (5.5 kilometers) long. The pyramid was covered with tura limestone, most of which is gone today.

In earlier times, pharaohs were buried in smaller mastaba tombs, which robbers could reach by digging in from the top, Reg Clark, an Egyptologist, wrote in his book "Securing Eternity: Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids" (American University in Cairo Press, 2019). The Step Pyramid of Djoser, Clark wrote, would have made it almost impossible for a robber to reach the burial chamber by digging in from the top. Protection from grave robbers may be a reason why the ancient Egyptians built the step pyramid, Clark wrote. 

While the step pyramid may have offered enhanced protection, people eventually broke into it, and today most of the burial goods, including the mummy of Djoser, are long gone. 

Not every mummy has been looted from the tomb, however. Recent archaeological work revealed three mummies dating to the late period (ca. 712–332 B.C.) that were buried inside Djoser's burial chamber, according to a paper published in 2021 in the Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists(opens in new tab). This means that by the late period people had not only broken into the king's burial chamber but were burying more mummies inside of it.

The pyramid is at the center of a complex 37 acres (15 hectares) in size. A recessed limestone wall surrounds the complex; fake doorways as well as the real colonnade entrances are embedded on the southeast side, wrote Lehner.

A temple lies on the north side of the pyramid along with a statue of the king. A small stone structure known as a "serdab" surrounds the statue, with the king's eyes peeking out through a hole in the serdab. To the south of the pyramid lies a great court, with an altar and stones identified as boundary markers, Lehner noted.

The builders placed a number of facade "dummy" buildings in the complex, including a series of chapels in the southeast as well as north and south pavilions on the east side of the pyramid. These structures would have served ritual purposes and, curiously, they appear to have been partly buried by their builders, wrote Lehner. In the southeast side of the complex, next to the dummy chapels, lies a court where the king could enact the Heb-Sed jubilee festival, presumably in the afterlife.

At the southern end of the complex lies the enigmatic "south tomb," with a chapel. It contains a series of tunnels that mimic those found beneath the pyramid itself. 

"One room [in the south tomb] had carved limestone panels set into the walls depicting the pharaoh running the heb-sed race," wrote Aidan Dodson and Salima Ikram in their book "The Tomb in Ancient Egypt" (Thames & Hudson 2008). The heb-sed festival celebrated kingship, and during the festival the king would run around an open area. The south tomb may not have held any burials and its purpose is not clear, wrote Dodson, an Egyptology professor at the University of Bristol, and Ikram, an Egyptology professor at the American University in Cairo. 

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