9 questions · History
Djoser ruled around 2670 BC in the 3rd Dynasty and stands at the beginning of everything we associate with Egypt. In Saqqara his architect Imhotep stacked six ever-smaller mastaba blocks on top of one another: the Step Pyramid, the world's first monumental building of dressed stone. Before him royal tombs were built of mud brick; after him Egypt reached for the sky. Centuries later Imhotep was himself worshipped as a god of healing, and Djoser's actual royal name, Netjerikhet, was almost forgotten behind his epithet. Good to know: Six ever-smaller blocks were set on top of one another: a forerunner of the true pyramid. The later smooth form appeared only about 100 years afterwards. Saqqara was the city of the dead for the old capital Memphis. The site is still being excavated: in 2020 over 100 coffins were found there. He is one of the first architects in history whose name has come down to us. His name appears on a statue base of Djoser: a rare honour for a non-king. Before that, royal tombs were built of mud brick.
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the Step Pyramid
Six ever-smaller blocks were set on top of one another: a forerunner of the true pyramid.
💡 Did you know? The later smooth form appeared only about 100 years afterwards.
in Saqqara
Saqqara was the city of the dead for the old capital Memphis.
💡 Did you know? The site is still being excavated: in 2020 over 100 coffins were found there.
Imhotep
He is one of the first architects in history whose name has come down to us.
💡 Did you know? His name appears on a statue base of Djoser: a rare honour for a non-king.
it is the first monumental building in stone
Before that, royal tombs were built of mud brick.
💡 Did you know? The stone columns still imitate reed bundles: nobody quite trusted the new material yet.
as a god of healing
An official who rose to become a god: almost without parallel in ancient Egypt.
💡 Did you know? The Greeks equated him with their healing god Asclepius.
six
It stands about 60 metres tall: an unheard-of height for the time.
💡 Did you know? The design was changed several times, growing upward from a flat mastaba.
Netjerikhet
The name „Djoser“ appears only about 1000 years later.
💡 Did you know? Only a later inscription linked the two names together.
the Famine Stela
It tells how Djoser appeases the god Khnum and the Nile rises again.
💡 Did you know? The inscription was, however, carved some 2400 years after Djoser.
Foto: Tomk2ski · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
Djoser
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