DJOSER FUNERAL COMPLEX

The Step Pyramid is the most important building in the complex, and the ancestor of all the pyramids in this funerary complex. Although not immediately noticeable, it stands at the center of an immense rectangular esplanade, surrounded by a 544 m x 277 m wall of fine, partially destroyed limestone. A section of this wall has been reconstructed from the numerous debris found in the sand. Its original height was around 10 m, and it was beautifully worked and fitted along its entire length. The only entrance (all the others are stone simulacra) opens onto a narrow aisle, once covered with a ceiling of flagstones, supported by forty fasciculated columns, 20 for Lower Egypt, 20 for Upper. This massive construction was designed and built by Imhotep, vizier and architect to King Djoser, who was elevated to the rank of God of Medicine by the Greeks. Djoser wanted his tomb to be visible from afar. Imhotep built it in accordance with the architecture of the time, although he replaced brick with stone for reasons of preservation. With a height of 60 m (its base is a false square measuring 110 m x 120 m), it is the result of successive extensions and additions. Originally in the form of a square mastaba measuring 63 m on each side and 8 m in height, its proportions were altered several times, then topped by three tiers of steps. Later, two additional storeys were added, giving the complex the six-step pyramid appearance we know today. This funerary complex covered an area of around 15 hectares, the size of a large city at the time.

On the northeast corner of the building is the serdab, a small cell housing the statue of the deceased. It is pierced by two circular holes that allow us to contemplate the exact copy of the bust of King Djoser (the original is on display at the Cairo Museum). Behind it is the entrance to the royal tomb, inaccessible to the public. The tomb is 28 m deep.

In the south-eastern part , the annex buildings have been partially restored. Although not of extraordinary interest, they are of high quality in terms of assembly and ornamentation. At the southern end of the funerary complex, a shaft 28 m deep and 7 m wide conceals a smaller tomb, identical in shape to that of Djoser, designed to store the canopic vases containing the king's viscera.