As our bus headed out of the mass of brick and concrete in Cairo, the scenery abruptly changed to rich, green farmland surrounded by brown desert. Strange to think that if we would have taken the same journey some 4000 years earlier we would have been leaving farmland to enter a vast urban area. It was breathtaking to see the pyramid to come into view, and although it is not as impressive in size or condition as the pyramids of Giza, the area possessed historical gravity that demanded reverence. The main entrance consisted of a long hallway of tall columns that brought us to a large central courtyard.

 

In the courtyard we found two thrones of Zoser’s lying in ruins, and surrounding us were a number of ceremonial temples. Wandering around towards the side of the temple was a stone structure called a serdab, if you pay a small fee to enter you would see a wooden box with holes drilled in, upon peering in, Zoser would be peering back at you, well his statue would be anyway. This was his place of “ka” that could see the offerings made to him.

Zoser had his pyramid built during the Third Dynasty. Before his pyramid, most ancient Egyptians were buried underground or in low, flat brick building-like structures called mastabas.  Pharoah Zoser wanted something more fitting for his nobility and his architect, Imhotep, had a grand plan in mind. It appears he kept stacking mestabas on top of one another until it became a six-tiered, stepped pyramid about 200 feet high. It was once encased in a limestone shell, as were most other pyramids, but time has had its toll on the structure. It is a midway point between the earlier masatabas and the larger, more perfected pyramids of Giza. A remarkable stepping stone, without which there very well may not have been any other pyramids in Egypt!

By: Leah Jacobson