The complex of Djoser at Saqqara is more than just the first pyramid and template for all pyramid complexes that would follow.
Djoser’s complex is a highly integrated machine, an eternal representation of institutions, religions, and architecture culled from all corners of Egypt and incorporated into a stone microcosm intended to project the king’s world into the afterlife.
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Tags: Abydos, Anedjib, Djoser, Egyptian Tombs, Heb Sed, Imhotep, Mastabas, Memphis Necropolis, Netjerikhet, Old Kingdom, Pyramid Complex, Pyramids, Saqqara, Serdab, Step Pyramid of Djoser, Third Dynasty
Ok, I realize that most of my posts have been about Dr. Hawass this week, and I promise the article on the Djoser Pyramid complex is nearing completion. But one does have to wonder why he might have a lovely new post on his blog about the Bent Pyramid at Dashur..
After all, as informative as it is, the new post doesn’t really contain anything new. Of course, he is currently blogging about the pyramids in the vicinity of Dashur. I think I might know why..
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Tags: Bent Pyramid, Black Pyramid, Dashur, Egyptian Tourism, Huni, Meidum, Meidum Pyramid, Memphis Necropolis, Pyramids, Red Pyramid, Snefru, Zahi Hawass
My interview with Zahi Hawass has been posted to Heritage Key!
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Tags: Archaeology, Cairo Museum, Egyptian Tombs, Egyptian Tourism, Forensic Mummy Studies, Giza Plateau, Giza Pyramids, Grand Egyptian Museum, Horemheb, Indianapolis, Islamic Egypt, Ka-Nefer-Nefer, Khufu's Pyramid, Memphis Necropolis, Mummies, National Museum of Egyptian Civilization, Nefertiti, Osiris Shaft, Seti I, Suzanne Mubarak Children's Museum, Valley of the Kings, Zahi Hawass
The Sixth Dynasty rolled in like the thunderhead that portents a rising storm. There had been tension between the royal line from which Teti descended and the one which had just vacated the throne. Court officials had grown accustomed to wealth. Provincial nobles were flexing their will to independence. Famine. Waves of refugees. Ongoing religious reform. Teti’s agenda could be summarized in two words–damage control.
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Tags: Iput I, Memphis Necropolis, Mereruka, Old Kingdom, Pepi I, Pyramid Complex, Pyramid Texts, Pyramids, Saqqara, Sixth Dynasty, Solar Cult, Teti, Teti's Pyramid, Unas, Unas' Pyramid, Userkare
The King is dead, long live the King.
The death of Pharaoh Unas prompted the most fragile transfer of power in the Old Kingdom to date, but it would hardly be the last, or the worst. Without an heir, or at least one who ascended to the throne, the fact that the crown passed from one dynasty to another peaceably amidst a time of growing turmoil is a testament to what remained of Egypt’s institutions.
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Tags: Ancient Egypt, Fifth Dynasty, Kagemni, Memphis Necropolis, Old Kingdom, Pyramid Complex, Pyramid Texts, Pyramids, Saqqara, Sixth Dynasty, Solar Cult, Teti, Unas, Unas' Pyramid
In every recession there are winners and losers. Meet Chief Justice and Vizier Mereruka, one of the winners. Even as the kings during his lifetime were building ever-smaller and cheaper pyramids, this officer of the royal court built the Taj Mahal of the Sixth Dynasty.
Ok, maybe that’s an exaggeration. But Mereruka stands out as an excellent example how the power dynamics were shifting as the Old Kingdom entered its twilight years.
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Tags: Ancient Egypt, Egyptian Tombs, Fifth Dynasty, Kagemni, Mastabas, Memphis Necropolis, Mereruka, Old Kingdom, Saqqara, Sixth Dynasty, Solar Cult, Teti, Unas
Pharaoh Userkaf is one of the many Egyptian kings who have left very few clues regarding his biography and reign. Well, he did leave a pyramid and a few temples from which we have been able to extract a couple of details.
Actually, these structures contain some intriguing clues about Userkaf and his times, and a shadow of things to come.
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Tags: Djedefre, Djoser, Fifth Dynasty, Fourth Dynasty, Heliopolis, Memphis Necropolis, Pyramid Complex, Pyramids, Saqqara, Shepseskaf, Solar Cult, Step Pyramid of Djoser, Userkaf, Userkaf's Pyramid
For starters, it’s a large four-sided structure made of stone, wide at the bottom and pointy at the top, making a perfect triangle.
There are three of them, they are located in the middle of the Egyptian desert, they were built by slaves, and they have mummies in them.
Right? Well…
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Tags: Bent Pyramid, Black Pyramid, Dashur, Djoser, Giza Plateau, Giza Pyramids, Imhotep, Khufu's Pyramid, Mastabas, Meidum, Memphis Necropolis, Mereruka, Old Kingdom, Pyramid Complex, Pyramids, Red Pyramid, Saqqara, Serdab, Snefru, Step Pyramid of Djoser
It’s the northern tip of a vast cemetery that spans the desert from Memphis to Cairo. It’s the home of the Great Sphinx, scores of pyramids, and thousands of tombs. One of its features, the Great Pyramid, is the last remaining Wonder of the Ancient World, and the best minds still can’t agree on how it was constructed.
Welcome to the Giza Plateau, the only place on Earth that is recognizable from outer space because of a few 4,600 year old buildings.
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Tags: Archaeology, Egyptian Tombs, First Dynasty, Giza Necropolis, Giza Plateau, Giza Pyramids, Memphis Necropolis, Pyramids, Saqqara, Senedjemib-inty, Seshemnefer IV, Solar Boat Museum, Sphinx
