The Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first pyramid ever built in Egypt

The Step Pyramid of Djoser constructed approximately 4,700 years ago. It has six tiers that are above ground and a system of tunnels that are below ground.

 

The Step Pyramid of Djoser was the first pyramid ever built by the Egyptians. It was located in Saqqara and was completed approximately 4,700 years ago.

 

Djoser, often written by Zoser, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who ruled during Egypt's third dynasty. His real name, Netjerykhet, knew, and he is credited with giving the Great Pyramid of Giza its name. Scholars believe that Imhotep, a vizier who became revered as a god in later times because of his many achievements, was responsible for the design of the pyramid.

 

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

 

The pyramid was originally a mastaba tomb, which is a structure with a flat roof and sloping sides. However, via a series of expansions, it was transformed into a pyramid that is 197 feet tall (60 meters) and has six layers, each of which is erected on top of the previous layer. Stone and clay, amounting to 11.6 million cubic feet (330,400 cubic meters), were utilized in the construction of the pyramid. The passageways that run beneath the pyramid come together to form a maze that is approximately 5.5 kilometres (3.5 miles) long. The majority of the Tura limestone that covered the pyramid has disintegrated over the years.

 

More effective defence?

 

Egyptologist Reg Clark wrote in his book "Securing Eternity: Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids" that in earlier times, pharaohs were buried in smaller mastaba tombs, which tomb robbers could access by digging in from the top. The book is titled "Securing Eternity: Ancient Egyptian Tomb Protection from Prehistory to the Pyramids" (American University in Cairo Press, 2019). According to what Clark wrote, it would have been nearly impossible for a thief to enter the burial chamber of the Step Pyramid of Djoser by digging their way in from the top. According to what Clark wrote, one possible reason why ancient Egyptians created the step pyramid was to protect their tombs from grave robbers.

 

Humans finally broke into the step pyramid, and as a result, the majority of the burial items, including the mummy of Djoser, have been lost to history. Even though the step pyramid may have afforded improved protection, people eventually broke into it.

 

However, the tomb has not been raked clean of all of its mummies yet. According to a paper that was published in 2021 in the Journal of the General Union of Arab Archaeologists, recent archaeological work uncovered three mummies that dated to the late period (around 712–332 B.C.) and that were buried inside Djoser's burial chamber. These mummies were discovered in Djoser's tomb. This indicates that by the late period, not only had individuals broken into the burial chamber of the monarch, but they were also burying more mummies inside of it.

 

The Djoser situation is complicated.

 

The pyramid sits at the heart of a complex that spans a total area of 37 acres (15 hectares). According to what Lehner wrote, the complex is surrounded by a recessed limestone wall, and both fake portals and the actual colonnade entrances are embedded on the southeast side of the wall.

 

On the northern face of the pyramid is a temple, and on the same face is a statue of the monarch. The figure is surrounded by a little stone building that is referred to as a "serdab," and the eyes of the king may be seen peering out through a hole in the serdab. According to Lehner, a large court may be found to the south of the pyramid. This court features an altar as well as stones that can be interpreted as border marks.

 

The builders also installed several "facade fake" buildings in the complex. These "dummy" buildings included a series of chapels located in the southeast as well as north and south pavilions situated on the east side of the pyramid. According to what Lehner said, these structures would have been used for religious purposes, and, oddly, they appear to have been partially buried by the people who built them. There is a court located on the southeast side of the complex, close to the dummy chapels. This court was designed so that the monarch, presumably in the afterlife, might reenact the Heb-Sed jubilee feast.

 

The mysterious "south tomb," which includes a chapel, can be found at the furthest southern point of the complex. It has a network of passageways that are similar to those that can be discovered beneath the pyramid itself.

 

According to the authors of "The Tomb in Ancient Egypt," Aidan Dodson and Salima Ikram, "one room [in the south tomb] has carved limestone panels placed into the walls representing the pharaoh running the heb-sed race." [citation needed] [Citation required] (Thames & Hudson, 2008). The heb-sed festival honoured kingship, and as part of the celebration, the king would take part in a procession that involved running across an open space. According to Dodson, an Egyptology professor at the University of Bristol, and Ikram, an Egyptology professor at the American University in Cairo, wrote, "The south tomb may not have held any graves, and its purpose is not obvious." [citation needed]

 

According to research that was published in the year 2015 in the journal Archaeological Prospection, the complex is encircled by a dry "moat" that ranges in depth from about 131 feet (40 meters) to about 40 meters (131 feet) in width. The scientists said in their study that a survey of the moat revealed that it was utilized as a "large quarry for material used for the construction of the Step Pyramid." This information was gleaned from the canal.

 

Who exactly is laid to rest inside the Djoser pyramid?

 

Underneath the step, the pyramid is a complex network of tunnels and chambers, the core of which is a shaft that is 90 feet deep (28 meters), and at the very bottom of which is the burial chamber for King Djoser. In his article, Zahi Hawass, a former minister of antiquities in Egypt, claimed that the mummy of King Djoser had been lost. Still, that conservation work in the burial chamber has uncovered 32 shards of the granite sarcophagus that was used to bury the king. Using what's left of it, researchers have been able to determine that the king's coffin once weighed 1.76 tons (1.6 metric tons).

 

Initially, the constructors intended to embellish the ceiling with limestone blocks bearing engravings of five-pointed stars. This would have given the impression that the sky was filled with stars. According to Hawass, archaeologists discovered blocks from this proposed ceiling while conducting conservation work. However, for unknown reasons, the builders rejected this design, leaving a roof of plain granite instead.

 

A network of tunnels and an underground "palace."

 

Two passages travel underground, and from those passages, there are three different directions. They include a unique passageway for presenting sacrifices; three magazine galleries for storing items; a chamber that was never finished and may have been part of an underground "palace" of sorts, although one for the dead, and an unfinished room.

 

The underground "palace" features three fake entrances that lead to chambers that hold stele, which are carved stone depictions of the king performing ceremonies. According to what Lehner mentioned in his article, the room's walls are covered with blue faience tiles, which may be supposed to replicate the reed matting that can be found in the king's actual palace in Memphis. The construction of this underground room was hurriedly finished.

 

A tunnel located on the east side of the pyramid houses forty thousand stone vessels, most of which belonged to the king's forebears. According to what Lehner mentioned, archaeologists had discovered human bones and coffins in the area, including the hip bone of a lady who was approximately 18 years old when she passed away. According to the study written by Lehner, some of the female remains were dated to several generations before the reign of Djoser, which raises the question of who these individuals were.

 

Conservation in the 21st Century

 

Egypt was in charge of a project to preserve the pyramid from 2006 through 2020, and they received assistance from engineers working for a British engineering company known as Cintec. During the process of maintaining the pyramid, there was a time when giant airbags were used to prop up the pyramid's roof so that workers could work on repairing the structure of the pyramid.

 

During the conservation efforts, several of the pyramid's blocks had gotten dislodged, but they were all successfully replaced.

 

According to what Hawass reported, the group was successful in "collecting all the blocks that were loose under the sand, treating them immediately, and choosing the best of them to be set back into the pyramid after filling the gaps with mortar." The mortar that was utilized contains the same proportion of limestone as the sand that the ancient Egyptians used.

 

Respectful indication

 

The creation of the step pyramid is considered to be the starting point of an ambitious pyramid-building program that would eventually lead to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Imhotep, the ancient Egyptian architect who is credited with creating the step pyramid, would come to be worshipped as a god in later times.

 

In his book "A History of Ancient Egypt" (Wiley-Blackwell, 2010), author Marc Van De Mieroop wrote that King Djoser (Netjerykhet) bestowed a rare honour upon Imhotep by allowing his name and titles to be carved on the base of one of the king's statues. Imhotep's name and markers were inscribed on the base of one of the king's statues. Someone responsible for the design of the first Egyptian pyramid would be appropriately referred to as the "chief of sculptors," which is one of his titles.

 

Djoser would also continue to be adored, and even after he had passed away hundreds of years earlier, officials desired to be interred close to his step pyramid. In the step pyramid, archaeologists discovered the burial site of a government official in the year 2022. His name was Mehtjetju. He lived approximately 4,300 years ago, several centuries after the reign of Djoser.

 

The burial location of Imhotep has been a mystery for a very long time. Egyptologists have a hunch that Imhotep was laid to rest next to the most famous structure he ever designed and built because of his connection to the Step Pyramid. According to what Hawass indicated in his report, future research on the pyramid will investigate the likelihood that Imhotep was buried beneath the step pyramid. This is one of the possibilities.

Article source : https://www.livescience.com/23050-step-pyramid-djoser.html

Image source  : https://pixabay.com/id/photos/mesir-cairo-lampu-bazaar-lentera-4269151/

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