From the top of the southern enclosure wall of the Step Pyramid of Djoser, you find yourself looking out over a vast ancient Egyptian necropolis (city of the dead). This place is called Saqqara. The hill of rubble on the right hand side of this picture is the 5th Dynasty pyramid of Wenis, who died around 2323 B.C. On the horizon are the pyramids of Dahshur, the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid both built by the Pharaoh Snofru during the 4th Dynasty. The small pyramid that you see directly in front of the Bent pyramid is that of Pepy II of the 6th Dynasty. The giant sarcophagus shaped structure also on the horizon is called “Mastabet el-Fara’un”. It is the burial complex of Shepseskaf, the last pharaoh of the 4th Dynasty.

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. . . .Snofru was perhaps the greatest pyramid builder of all, he oversaw the building of three. The first two were unsuccessful but through trial and error he developed the first true (not stepped) pyramid, that is the one on the right above, called the Red Pyramid. His desire to build pyramids was passed on to his children, his son Cheops and grandson Khafre built their monuments on a plateau to the north, called Giza and with the techniques developed by Snofru built the greatest pyramids of all.

 

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Inside the Step Pyramid Complex