Saqqara: History, the Step Pyramid and New Discoveries (With Sources)

By Essam Ali, Egyptologist, Luxor · Last updated: October 2026 · Sources are listed at the end of the article.

Saqqara is the main burial ground of ancient Memphis, Egypt’s first capital, on the desert plateau about 30 km south of central Cairo. It was used for more than 3,000 years, from the First Dynasty (c. 3000 BCE) to the Coptic period. It is home to the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the earliest large monument built entirely of cut stone^[3], the first Pyramid Texts^[6] and the Serapeum of the Apis bulls^[10]. Saqqara is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site “Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur”^[1], and it is still one of the most active excavation sites in Egypt.

Key facts about Saqqara

• Location: west bank of the Nile, about 30 km south of central Cairo, beside ancient Memphis
• In use: from about 3000 BCE to the Coptic period, more than 3,000 years
• Most famous monument: the Step Pyramid of Djoser, 3rd Dynasty, about 60 m tall^[4]
• Architect: traditionally Imhotep, whose name appears on a Djoser statue base^[5]
• UNESCO: inscribed in 1979 as part of site no. 86^[1]

Where the Name Saqqara Comes From

The modern name is usually linked to Sokar, a falcon-headed god of the Memphite necropolis who was later merged with Ptah and Osiris as Ptah-Sokar-Osiris. Ancient Egyptians did not use one name for the whole site. They named its parts after the pyramids and temples built there.

Saqqara Through the Ages

Early Dynastic Period (c. 3000–2686 BCE)

Officials of the first two dynasties built large mud-brick mastaba tombs on the northern edge of the plateau, overlooking Memphis. Their “palace-façade” walls, with recessed niches, later inspired the stone enclosure wall of Djoser’s complex^[3].

Old Kingdom (c. 2686–2181 BCE)

Saqqara reached its first high point when Djoser of the 3rd Dynasty built the Step Pyramid. The 4th Dynasty kings moved their pyramids to Meidum, Dahshur (Sneferu) and Giza (Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure). The 5th and 6th Dynasty kings then returned to Saqqara. They include Userkaf, Djedkare Isesi, Unas, Teti and Pepi I and II, all of whom built their pyramids here or in South Saqqara. Their officials built the richly decorated mastabas that visitors see today, such as those of Ti, Mereruka, Kagemni and Ptahhotep^[3].

Middle and New Kingdom (c. 2055–1069 BCE)

Middle Kingdom kings built their pyramids at Dahshur, Lisht and Lahun, and New Kingdom kings were buried in the Valley of the Kings at Luxor. Saqqara stayed the cemetery of the Memphite elite. The general Horemheb built a grand tomb here before he became king, and Tutankhamun’s treasurer Maya was buried nearby. Both tombs were rediscovered by an Anglo-Dutch expedition from the Egypt Exploration Society and the National Museum of Antiquities in Leiden, Horemheb’s in 1975 and Maya’s in 1986^[12].

Late and Ptolemaic Period (664–30 BCE)

Far from being abandoned, Saqqara was busier than ever in this period. The Apis bulls, believed to be living forms of the god Ptah, were buried in the vast galleries of the Serapeum, and millions of mummified animals (ibises, cats, falcons and dogs) were offered in catacombs across the plateau^[10]. An embalming workshop of the 26th Dynasty, found in 2016, shows how the dead were prepared here^[8].

Coptic Period

From late antiquity, Christian monks built the Monastery of Apa Jeremias on the plateau. It was excavated by James Quibell between 1908 and 1910, and its painted chapels and carvings are now in the Coptic Museum in Cairo^[11].

Djoser and the Step Pyramid

On his own monuments, the king we call Djoser is named Netjerikhet, “Divine of Body”. The name Djoser appears only in later records. Egyptologists usually date his reign to around 2670–2650 BCE. A radiocarbon study of short-lived plant remains from dated contexts placed the start of his reign between 2691 and 2625 BCE^[2].

The Step Pyramid began as a square stone mastaba over a burial shaft. It was enlarged several times and then built up into six stepped stages, which made it the first pyramid in Egypt and the earliest monumental building made entirely of cut stone^[3]. It stands about 60 m high above a burial shaft about 28 m deep and 7 m wide^[4]. Under the pyramid lies a maze of galleries where excavators found tens of thousands of stone vessels, many carved with the names of 1st and 2nd Dynasty kings^[3].

The pyramid stands in a walled complex of about 544 × 277 m, surrounded by a limestone wall about 10.5 m high with niches imitating a palace façade^[3]. Many buildings inside the wall are solid “dummy” structures. They are stone copies of buildings that were meant to serve the king forever in the afterlife.

A 1992 earthquake badly damaged the pyramid. After a restoration that started in 2006 and cost about US$6.6 million, the Step Pyramid reopened to visitors on 5 March 2020, including its underground burial chamber^[4].

Inside the Djoser Complex

• Entrance colonnade: the only real door in the enclosure leads into a hall of 40 engaged columns carved to look like bundles of reeds, with a stone ceiling shaped like palm logs^[3].
• Heb-Sed court: rows of dummy chapels for the Sed festival, the royal jubilee traditionally held after 30 years of rule. Reliefs show the king running a ritual course between boundary markers to prove he was still fit to rule.
• South Tomb: a second, smaller burial apartment inside the south wall. Its purpose is still debated. It may have been a symbolic tomb, or a burial place for the king’s ka or his organs^[3].
• Houses of the South and North: two ceremonial buildings that probably stood for Upper and Lower Egypt. Hieratic graffiti written on their walls by New Kingdom visitors, more than 1,000 years after Djoser, show that the complex was already a historic monument in ancient times.
• Serdab: a sealed chamber with two eye-holes, through which a seated statue of the king looked out at the offerings. The original statue is in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo, and a cast stands in its place.

Imhotep: What We Actually Know

Imhotep is one of the few officials of the Old Kingdom whose name is known from his own lifetime. A base of a Djoser statue (Cairo JE 49889) names him with the titles royal seal-bearer, “great of seers” (high priest of Heliopolis) and overseer of sculptors^[5]. It does not actually call him the architect of the pyramid. That role, and his fame as a physician and sage, come from texts written up to 2,000 years later. By the Late Period he was worshipped as a god of medicine, and the Greeks identified him with Asclepius^[5]. His tomb has never been found. Many scholars expect it to lie in North Saqqara.

The Pyramid of Unas and the First Pyramid Texts

The small pyramid of Unas, last king of the 5th Dynasty (c. 2375–2345 BCE), holds the oldest known Pyramid Texts. These spells were carved in columns of hieroglyphs on the walls of the burial chambers to help the king rise to the sky and join the gods. They are the oldest large body of religious writing that survives from Egypt^[6]. Unas’s chambers contain 228 spells, and later kings and queens of the 6th Dynasty, starting with Teti, added more^[6][7].

The Serapeum of the Apis Bulls

In 1850 the French archaeologist Auguste Mariette followed a buried avenue of sphinxes and found the Serapeum, the underground burial galleries of the sacred Apis bulls^[10]. Its main corridor is lined with vaulted chambers holding huge granite and basalt sarcophagi, some weighing around 60 tonnes with their lids. Most date from the Late Period and Ptolemaic era. The stelae left by priests and pilgrims helped 19th-century scholars work out Egyptian chronology.

Tombs to Visit at Saqqara

• Mastaba of Ti (5th Dynasty): some of the finest scenes of daily life in Egypt, showing farming, boat building and hippo hunting
• Mastaba of Mereruka (6th Dynasty): a vizier of Teti, with more than 30 rooms
• Mastaba of Kagemni (6th Dynasty): scenes of fishing and cattle
• Mastaba of Ptahhotep and Akhethotep (5th Dynasty)
• Tomb of Mehu (6th Dynasty): with bright original colors
• Tomb of Ankhmahor, the “Physicians’ Tomb” (6th Dynasty): includes scenes often read as circumcision and surgery
• Tomb of Nefer and Kahay (5th Dynasty)
• Tomb of Horemheb and Tomb of Maya and Merit (18th Dynasty)^[12]
• Pyramids of Unas and Teti, with Pyramid Texts^[6]
• Imhotep Museum at the site entrance

Not every tomb is open every day, because the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities rotates openings. Your guide can tell you which ones are open on the day.

How to Visit Saqqara

Saqqara is about 30 km south of central Cairo and roughly 45 minutes to an hour by car, depending on traffic. There is no public transport to the site, so most visitors come with a driver, by taxi or ride-hailing, or on a guided tour. Many combine Saqqara with Memphis and the Red and Bent Pyramids of Dahshur, which are all close together, in one day. Plan at least 2 to 3 hours for the Step Pyramid complex, two or three mastabas and the Imhotep Museum, and longer if you want to enter the pyramid or the Serapeum.

Visit Saqqara with an Egyptologist: our private Saqqara, Memphis and Dahshur day tour includes hotel pickup, a licensed Egyptologist guide and entrance fees.

Saqqara Timeline