The Saqqara; home to the oldest stone building in the world!

The Saqqara region, dating back to nearly 3100 BC, is a desert area next to Cairo. It’s a striking contrast to the green suburbs of the bustling city. Having the oldest stone building in the world, it’s a spotlight for history (though not quite as well-known as Giza, unfortunately). It is a 45 min drive south of Cairo and definitely worth the visit! Here are the places we explored:

The Pyramid of Djoser (with a silent d): Not only is this the oldest pyramid, but it is also the oldest building in the world. It’s a step pyramid and in great condition! From here we could spot the Giza pyramids, and the other two pyramids in the Saqqara (the Bent Pyramid and the Red Pyramid). The pyramid was built as a burial ground for Djoser, the first Pharoah of the 3rd dynasty. He was the high chancellor and vizier of the Pharaoh Djoser, as well as a priest. These two are defiantly a must - seeing the oldest stone building in the world (and the architect’s museum) isn’t something you do every day! The entrance fee is 80 Egyptian pounds ($9) per person - students being half the price, 40 ($2.50). This ticket gets you into the tomb of Ty, the Serapeum, and the Imhotep museum, an amazing museum to the architect of the grand step pyramid. (As well as many other tombs and historical sites, there are many and you can easily spend a whole day exploring!)

The Tomb of Ty (sometimes spelled Ti, Tey, or Thiy): This tomb is one of the most famous tombs in the Old Kingdom dynasty in Egypt. Even though Ty was not a pharaoh, he was a high figure, being the husband of Neferhetepes, a priestess to Neith (goddess of creation, wisdom, and war) and Hathor (goddess of love, the sky, and women). The tomb is incredible. The hieroglyphs on the walls are in beautiful detail and color, some of the more preserved we’ve seen. They depicted daily life; the offering to gods and goddesses, the butchering of a cow, farming, fishing, and many others. In one room there is his coffin, which proves a real mystery. The entrance to the coffin room is very low, you have to crouch to get in, yet his coffin is much larger than the entrance, and it’s a different stone than the room itself. The ticket for the tomb of Ty is the same as the one for the Pyramid of Djoser and the Serapeum. His tomb has been one of my favorites we’ve seen!

A sarcophagus of one of the many oxen at the Serapeum!

The Serapeum: This is an incredulous place to visit and our favorite from the region! During a certain period, the ancient Egyptians worshiped bulls, the Serapeum was a place where they buried the “sacred bulls”. This bull was chosen based on some specific characteristics. After one died, they would find another bull with similar features and worship him, treat him like a king until his death, then mummify him and bury him in the Serapeum. The Serapeum itself is a vast tunnel system, spreading out in all directions and dozens of chambers for the bull coffins. (There were a total of 64 bulls buried) The coffins are huge granite blocks, hollow inside. The sides are perfectly straight and have decorative hieroglyphs. Interestingly enough, no one knows how the Egyptians made such straight and perfect sides. As the “rooms” where the coffins were in couldn’t hold enough people to lift them up, the way they got it in was fascinating. They used logs to roll the coffin in and filled the room up with sand to the floor level (these rooms were deeper than the main corridor), then rolled the coffin onto it. They then took away the sand slowly and then had another coffin in place! The Serapeum really shows that the Egyptians can’t have been as simple as we think they were. It’s impossible for them to make such straight edges with the tools we think they had. It’s truly a mystery, but an incredible one at that! Fun fact; the Serapeum was discovered in 1850!

One of the many sarcophagus for the ox at the Serapeum.

The Bent Pyramid: This pyramid is unique. Built under the Pharoah Sneferu in around 2600 BC, they started the pyramid at too steep of an angle. If they were to continue, archeologists think the pyramid would be too fragile and likely collapse. Halfway through the build, they fixed it, finishing it at a more shallow slope. Now, the unique look that comes from it is very interesting, with a cool story behind it too. The ticket fee is 80 Egyptian pounds ($9) per person, again students being half the price (the ticket comes with access to the Red Pyramid). This ticket gives visitors access to the inside two rooms. It’s a strenuous climb, going down many many stairs (in a space where crouching is necessary unless you’re less than 6 years old), going up several, then having to go back up the way you came from. But, the results are worth it! Seeing the inside of a pyramid is very cool and shows how they would build these with enough strength in them; building progressively smaller rooms on top of the main chamber, which lessens the weight on the burial room.
The Red Pyramid: The Red Pyramid (sometimes called the North Pyramid), again built by the Pharoah Sneferu, was completed around 2550 BC. This pyramid gets its name from the apparently reddish (I didn’t see the red at all) limestone it was built with. It wasn’t originally red though; it was covered in white limestone from the old Tura quarry. The ticket is the same as the one to get into the Bent Pyramid, one ticket, two pyramids. Again, with these tickets, you can go inside the pyramid. There were many bats clinging to the sides of the walls inside the pyramid. This pyramid is the largest in the Saqqara and the third largest in all of Egypt (Khufu and Khafre in Giza are larger)! I thought this was incredibly preserved and very cool to see.

All in all, the Saqqara was a fantastic place to visit! Our tour guide (named Mohammed, like most other people in Egypt :) said that if you dig anywhere you’ll find something, whether it’s just an animal or human mummies (you know, “just” a couple mummies ;), interesting artifacts, or a whole tomb from a Pharoah. The Saqqara has been one of the favorite places we’ve visited!