length base of
oryginal mastaba: 71.5
m
height of mastaba: 8.4
m
slope of steps: 72o
finished base length: 109
m
x 121 m
height after rebuilding: 62.5
m
wall around complex:
height:
10,5 m
area:
544.9 m x 277.6 m
The
Pyramid of Djoser, or
Step
Pyramid (kbhw-ntrw)
is an archeological remain
in the
Saqqara necropolis,
Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis. It was
built during the 27th century BC for the burial
of Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, his vizier. It is
the central feature of a vast mortuary complex
in an enormous courtyard surrounded by
ceremonial structures and decoration.
This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of six mastabas (of decreasing size) built atop one
another in what were clearly revisions and
developments of the original plan. The pyramid
originally stood 62 metres (203 ft) tall, with a
base of 109 m × 125 m (358 ft × 410 ft) and was
clad in polished white limestone.The step pyramid (or proto-pyramid) is
considered to be the earliest large-scale cut
stone construction,although the nearby enclosure known as Gisr el-Mudir
would seem to predate the complex. Djoser is best known for his innovative tomb,
which dominates the Saqqara landscape. In this
tomb he is referred to by his Horus name
Netjerykhet; Djoser is a name given by New
Kingdom visitors thousands of years later.
Djoser’s step pyramid is astounding in its
departure from previous architecture. It sets
several important precedents, perhaps the most
important of which is its status as the first
monumental structure made of stone. The social
implications of such a large and carefully
sculpted stone structure are staggering. The
process of building such a structure would be
far more labor intensive than previous monuments
of mud-brick. This suggests that the state, and
therefore the royal government had a new level
of control of resources, both material and
human. Also, from this point on, kings of the
Old Kingdom are buried in the North, rather than
at Abydos. Furthermore, although the plan of
Djoser’s pyramid complex is different than later
complexes, many elements persist and the step
pyramid sets the stage for later pyramids of the IVth, Vth and VIth
Dynasties, including the great pyramids at Giza.
Finally, another intriguing first is the
identification of the architect Imhotep, who is
credited with the design and construction of the
complex.
Djoser’s Step Pyramid complex has several
structures pivotal to its function in both life
and the afterlife. Several are discussed below
with attention paid to function and form. The
pyramid was not simply a grave in ancient Egypt.
Its purpose was to facilitate a successful
afterlife for the king so that he could be
eternally reborn. The symbolism of the step
pyramid form, which did not survive the 3rd
Dynasty, is unknown, but it has been suggested
that it may be a monumental symbol of the crown,
especially the royal mortuary cult, since seven
small step pyramids (not tombs) were built in
the provinces. Another well accepted theory is
that it facilitated the king’s ascension to join
the eternal North Star. The main excavator of the Step Pyramid was
Jean-Phillipe Lauer, a French architect who
reconstructed key portions of the comple. The
complex covers 15ha and is about 2.5 times as
large as the Old Kingdom town of Heirakonpolis.
Several features of the complex differ from
those of later Old Kingdom pyramids. The pyramid
temple is situated at the north side of the
pyramid, whereas in later pyramids it is on the
east side. Also, the Djoser complex is built on
a North-South axis whereas later complexes
utilize an East-West axis. Furthermore, the
Djoser complex has one niched enclosure wall,
whereas later pyramids have two enclosure walls
with the outside one being smooth and the inside
one sometimes niched
The Djoser complex is surrounded by a wall of
light Tura limestone 10.5m high. The wall design
recalls the appearance of Ist Dynasty tombs,
with the distinctive paneled construction known
as the palace façade, which imitates bound
bundles of reeds. The overall structure imitates
mudbrick. The wall is interrupted by 14 doors,
however only one entrance, in the south corner
of the east façade, is functional for the living.
This arrangement resembles Early Dynastic
funerary enclosures at Abydos in which the
entrance was on the east side. The remaining
doors are known as false doors, and were meant
for the king’s use in the afterlife. They
functioned as portals through which the king’s
ka could pass between life and the afterlife.
The functional door at the southeast end of the
complex leads to a narrow passageway that
connects to the roofed colonnade.
Outside the enclosure wall Djoser’s complex
is completely surrounded by a trench dug in the
underlying rock. The trench measures 750 m long
and 40 m wide and is a rectangle on a
North-South axis. The walls of the trench were
originally decorated with niches and its
function seems to have been to make entry into
the complex more difficult. Roofed colonnade
corridor leading
into the complex,
with stone
pillars carved
to imitate
bundled plant
stems.
The roofed
colonnade led
from the
enclosure wall
to the south of
the complex. A
passageway with
a limestone
ceiling
constructed to
look as though
it was made from
whole tree
trunks led to a
massive stone
imitation of two
open doors.
Beyond this
portal was a
hall with twenty
pairs of
limestone
columns composed
of drum shaped
segments built
to look like
bundles of plant
stems and
reaching a
height of 6.6 m.
The columns were
not
free-standing,
but were
attached to the
wall by masonry
projections.
Between the
columns on both
sides of the
hall were small
chambers, which
some
Egyptologists
propose may have
been for each of
the provinces of
Upper and Lower
Egypt. At the
end of the
colonnade was
the transverse
hypostyle room
with eight
columns
connected in
pairs by blocks
of limestone.
This led to the
South Court.
roofed colonnade corridor leading into the
complex, with stone pillars carved to imitate
bundled plant stems
king
Djoser
performing the ceremonial
heb-sed, relief in a blue faience chamber
of the South Tomb
The South Court is a large court between the South Tomb and the pyramid. Within the court are curved stones thought to be territorial markers associated with the Heb-Sed festival, an important ritual completed by Egyptian kings (typically after 30 years on the throne) to renew their powers. These would have allowed Djoser to claim control over all of Egypt, while its presence in the funerary complex would allow Djoser to continue to benefit from the ritual in the afterlife. At the southern end of the court was a platform approached by steps. It has been suggested that this was a platform for the double throne. This fits into the theory proposed by Barry Kemp, and generally accepted by many, that suggests the whole step pyramid complex symbolizes the royal palace enclosure and allows the king to eternally perform the rituals associated with kingship. At the very south of the South Court lay the South Tomb. The South Tomb
has been likened
to the satellite
pyramids of
later Dynasties,
and has been
proposed to
house the ka in
the afterlife.
Another proposal
is that it may
have held the
canopic jar with
the king’s
organs, but this
does not follow
later trends
where the
canopic jar is
found in the
same place as
the body. These
proposals stem
from the fact
that the granite
burial vault is
much too small
to have
facilitated an
actual burial. The substructure of the South Tomb is entered
through a tunnel-like corridor with a staircase
that descends about 30m before opening up into
the pink granite burial chamber. The staircase
then continues west and leads to a gallery that
imitates the blue chambers below the step
pyramid.
Current evidence suggests that the South Tomb
was finished before the pyramid. The symbolic
king’s inner palace, decorated in blue faience,
is much more complete than that of the pyramid.
Three chambers of this substructure are
decorated in blue faience to imitate reed-mat
facades, just like the pyramid. One room is
decorated with three finely niche reliefs of the
king, one depicting him running theheb-sed.
Importantly, Egyptian builders chose to employ
their most skilled artisans and depict their
finest art in the darkest, most inaccessible
place in the complex. This highlights the fact
that this impressive craftsmanship was not meant
for the benefit of the living but was meant to
ensure the king had all the tools necessary for
a successful afterlife. The superstructure of the Step Pyramid is six
steps and was built in six stages, as might be
expected with an experimental structure. The
pyramid began as a square mastaba (one should
note that this designation as a mastaba is
contended for several reasons) which was
gradually enlarged, first evenly on all four
sides and later just on the east side. The
pyramid was built up in two stages, first to
form a four-stepped structure and then to form a
six-stepped structure, which now had a
rectangular base on an east-west axis. The fact
that the initial mastaba was square has led many
to believe that the monument was never meant to
be a mastaba, as no other known mastabas had
ever been square. The final pyramid was 62m tall
and 1221 square meters in area. When the
builders began to transform the mastaba into the
four step pyramid, they made a major shift in
construction. Like in the construction of the mastaba, they built a crude core of rough stones
and then cased them in fine limestone with
packing in between. The major difference is that
in mastaba construction they laid horizontal
courses, but for the pyramid layers, they built
in accretion layers that leaned inwards, while
using blocks that were both bigger and higher
quality. Much of the rock for the pyramid was
likely quarried from the construction of the
great trench. It is widely accepted that ramps
would have been used to raise heavy stone to
construct the pyramid, and many plausible models
have been suggested. Apparatuses like rollers in
which the heavy stone could be placed and then
rolled were employed in transport.
Under the step pyramid is a labyrinth of
tunneled chambers and galleries that total
nearly 6 km in length and connect to a central
shaft 7 m square and 28 m deep. These spaces
provide room for the king’s burial, the burial
of family members, and the storage of goods and
offerings. The entrance to the 28 m shaft was
built on the north side of the pyramid, a trend
that would remain throughout the Old Kingdom.
The sides of the underground passages are
limestone inlaid with blue faience tile to
replicate reed matting. These “palace façade”
walls are further decorated by panels decorated
in low relief that show the king participating
in the Heb-sed. Together these chambers
constitute the funerary apartment that mimicked
the palace and would serve as the living place
of the royal ka. On the east side of the pyramid
eleven shafts 32 m deep were constructed and
annexed to horizontal tunnels for the royal
harem (The existence of this "harem" is debated).
These were incorporated into the preexisting
substructure as it expanded eastward. In the
storerooms along here over 40,000 stone vessels
were found, many of which predate Djoser. These
would have served Djoser’s visceral needs in the
afterlife. An extensive network of underground
galleries was located to the north, west and
south of the central burial chamber and crude
horizontal magazines were carved into these.
The burial chamber was a vault constructed of
four courses of well-dressed granite. It had one
opening, which was sealed with a 3.5 ton block
after the burial. No body was recovered as the
tomb had been extensively robbed. Lauer believes
that a burial chamber of alabaster existed
before the one of granite. He found interesting
evidence of limestone blocks with five pointed
stars in low relief that were likely on the
ceiling, indicating the first occurrence of what
would become a tradition. The king sought to
associate himself with the eternal North Stars
that never set so as to ensure his rebirth and
eternity.
The Step Pyramid had to be planned carefully
for a strong burial chamber ceiling.The burial
chamber ceiling wasn't strong enough to stay
intact because of an earthquake that left the
chamber ceiling in very bad conditions in 1992.
Due to this earthquake a very big portion of the
ceiling had collapsed. Tons of mud-brick and
stone collapsed. Archaeologists have to preserve
this monument so further damage does not occur. The northern mortuary temple was on the north
side of the pyramid and faced the north stars,
which the king wished to join in eternity. This
structure provided a place in which the daily
rituals and offerings to the dead could be
performed, and was the cult center for the king.
To the east of the temple is the serdab, which
is a small enclosed structure that housed the ka
statue. The king’s ka inhabited the ka statue in
order to benefit from daily ceremonies like the
opening of the mouth, a ceremony that allowed
him to breathe and eat, and the burning of
incense. He witnessed these ceremonies through
two small eye holes cut in the north wall of the
serdab. This temple appears on the north side of
the pyramid throughout the Third Dynasty, as the
king wishes to go north to become one of the
eternal stars in the North Sky that never set.
In the fourth Dynasty, when there is a religious
shift to an emphasis on rebirth and eternity
achieved through the sun, the temple is moved to
the east side of the temple where the sun rises,
so that through association the king may be
reborn every day. The Heb-sed courtyard is rectangular and
parallel to the South Courtyard. It was meant to
provide a space in which the king could perform
the Heb-sed ritual in the afterlife. Flanking
the east and west sides of the court are the
remains of two groups of chapels, many of which
are dummy buildings, of three different
architectural styles. At the north and south
ends there are three chapels with flat roves and
no columns. The remaining chapels on the west
side are decorated with fluted columns and
capitals flanked by leaves. Each of the chapels
has a sanctuary accessed by a roofless passage
with walls that depict false doors and latches.
Some of these buildings have niches for statues.
Egyptologists believe that these buildings were
related to the important double coronation of
the king during the Heb-sed.