Located at Saqqara (Sakkara), about 20 miles southwest of Cairo, Egypt, the so-called Step Pyramid of Pyramid of Djoser, was built as the tomb of the pharaoh Djoser over 4,500 years ago. The building was designed by the revered architect, engineer and statesman Imhotep. He began with a simple mastaba, a common funeral monument shaped like a rectangular platform. Then he added five successively smaller mastabas one atop the other. The result was whole new type of building and a prototype of the far more famous monuments about 15 miles away – the Giza Pyramids. Saqqara was a necropolis for the ancient capital of Memphis for about 500 years in the 3rd millennium BCE. Even after the center of power shifted to the south, it remained an important burial site for thousands of years.

Most of our published tours to Egypt include a visit to Saqqara.