Saqqara
The cemetery of ancient Memphis, with Egypt's first stone pyramid and the first Pyramid Texts carved inside the tomb of Unas.
- Location
- West bank of the Nile, south of Cairo
- Modern country
- Egypt
- Type
- Necropolis of the capital Memphis
- Monuments
- Step Pyramid of Djoser; pyramid of Unas; Serapeum
- Known for
- First Pyramid Texts (pyramid of Unas, c. 2350 BCE)
- Status
- Part of UNESCO 'Memphis and its Necropolis' (1979)
What is Saqqara known for?
Saqqara is the vast burial ground of Memphis, Egypt's early capital, on the desert edge west of the Nile south of Cairo. It was used for more than three thousand years. Its best-known monument is the Step Pyramid of Djoser, built around 2650 BCE and usually credited to the architect Imhotep, the first large monumental stone building in Egypt.
At the end of the Fifth Dynasty, around 2350 BCE, King Unas built a small pyramid at Saqqara and covered the walls of its burial chamber and antechamber with columns of hieroglyphs. These are the first Pyramid Texts, spells to help the king rise to the sky and join the gods and the circumpolar stars. Later kings and some queens of the Sixth Dynasty did the same. The great Giza pyramids, built earlier, have no such texts inside.
Saqqara continues to produce major finds, including sealed coffins and mummified animals. It is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Memphis and its Necropolis.
The pyramids at Saqqara, starting with Unas, hold the Pyramid Texts and their imperishable stars.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holePyramid Texts
- Rabbit holeThoth
- Rabbit holeUnas
- PersonGaston Maspero
- PersonMerenre I
- PersonPepi I
- PersonSamuel A. B. Mercer
- PersonTeti
- PlaceAswan
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Saqqarah'Reference
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 'Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Unas'Reference
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