Visit Saqqara, Egypt
Within easy reach of Cairo, the pyramids at Saqqara are far less visited than their neighbours at Giza. This is where the royalty and nobility of Memphis were buried, and there are a large number of mastabas and temples to explore.
Within easy reach of Cairo, the pyramids at Saqqara are far less visited than their neighbours at Giza.
Saqqara is where the royalty and nobility of Memphis were buried, and there are a large number of mastabas (a simple tomb structure that was developed over time to become a pyramid) and temples to explore.
Step Pyramid of Zoser
The most important is the Step Pyramid of Zoser, which predates the Great Pyramid of Cheops by about 75 years and marks the moment when the pyramid age began under the architectural aegis of the remarkable Imhotep.
Building on increasingly larger mortuary mastabas for his pharaoh Zoser, Imhotep eventually struck on the idea of a stepped pyramid, and the other larger and more famous pyramids took their inspiration directly from this design.
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The pharaohs of ancient Egypt, the invasion by Alexander the Great's Hellenistic forces, the Roman and Ottoman empires, and the introduction of Christianity and Islam have all played their part in shaping Egypt's long and fascinating history.
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