Editing Saqqara (section)

==History==
{{Unreferenced section|date=August 2021}}

===Early Dynastic===
[[File:Saqqara map.jpg|thumb|Map of the site]]
[[File:Egypt.Saqqara.Panorama.01.jpg|thumb|View of Saqqara necropolis, including [[Djoser]]'s [[Pyramid of Djoser|step pyramid]] (centre), the [[Pyramid of Unas]] (left) and the [[Pyramid of Userkaf]] (right)]]
[[File:Oralfixation.jpg|thumb|<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/the-mastaba-of-ptahhetep-and-akhethetep-at-saqqareh-ix/page/n127/mode/2up?view=theater | title=The Mastaba of Ptahhetep and Akhethetep at Saqqareh IX | date=1900 }}</ref>]]

{{nowrap|The earliest burials}} of nobles can be traced back to the [[First dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]], at the northern side of the Saqqara plateau. During this time, the royal burial ground was at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]]. The first royal burials at Saqqara, comprising underground galleries, date to the early [[Second dynasty of Egypt|Second Dynasty]] reigns of [[Hotepsekhemwy]], [[Raneb]] and [[Nynetjer]]. This is followed by a hiatus, with [[Seth-Peribsen]] and [[Khasekhemwy]], the last Second Dynasty king, both buried in Abydos. Khasekhemwy may nonetheless also have built a funerary monument at Saqqara consisting of a large rectangular enclosure, known as [[Gisr el-Mudir]], although this enclosure could also belong to Nynetjer. It probably inspired the monumental enclosure wall around the Step Pyramid complex. Djoser's funerary complex, built by the royal architect [[Imhotep]], further comprises a large number of dummy buildings and a secondary mastaba (the so-called 'Southern Tomb'). French architect and Egyptologist [[Jean-Philippe Lauer]] spent the greater part of his life excavating and restoring Djoser's funerary complex.

====Early Dynastic monuments====
* Tomb of king Hotepsekhemwy and Raneb
* [[Nynetjer#Tomb|Tomb of king Nynetjer]]
* [[Buried Pyramid]], funerary complex of king [[Sekhemkhet]]
* [[Gisr el-Mudir]], funerary complex of a Second Dynasty king, possibly Nynetjer or Khasekhemwy
* [[Pyramid of Djoser|Step Pyramid]], funerary complex of king [[Djoser]]
[[File:Saqqara BW 1.jpg|thumb|right|Funerary complex of Djoser]]

===Old Kingdom===
[[File:Ägyptisches Museum Kairo 2016-03-29 Ka-aper 01.jpg|thumb|Wooden statue of the scribe [[Kaaper]], 4th or 5th dynasty of the [[Old Kingdom]], from Saqqara, c. 2500 BC]]

Nearly all [[Fourth dynasty of Egypt|Fourth Dynasty]] kings chose a different location for their [[Egyptian pyramids|pyramids]]. During the second half of the [[Old Kingdom]], under the [[Fifth dynasty of Egypt|Fifth]] and [[Sixth dynasty of Egypt|Sixth]] Dynasties, Saqqara was again the royal burial ground. The Fifth and Sixth Dynasty pyramids are not built wholly of massive stone blocks, but instead with a core consisting of rubble. Consequently, they are less well preserved than the world-famous pyramids built by the Fourth Dynasty kings at [[Giza Necropolis|Giza]]. [[Unas]], the last ruler of the Fifth Dynasty, was the first king to adorn the chambers in his pyramid with [[Pyramid Texts]]. During the Old Kingdom, it was customary for courtiers to be buried in mastaba tombs close to the pyramid of their king. Thus, clusters of private tombs were formed in Saqqara around the pyramid complexes of Unas and [[Teti]].

====Old Kingdom monuments====
*[[Pyramid of Djoser]] (Dynasty Three)
*[[Mastabat al-Fir'aun]], tomb of king [[Shepseskaf]] (Dynasty Four)
*[[Pyramid of Userkaf]] of the Fifth Dynasty
*[[Pyramid of Djedkare Isesi]]
*Pyramid of king [[Menkauhor Kaiu|Menkauhor]]
*[[Mastaba of Ti]]
*Mastaba of [[Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum]]
*[[Pyramid of Unas]]
*Mastaba of [[Ptahhotep]]
*[[Pyramid of Teti]] (Dynasty Six)
*Mastaba of [[Mereruka]]
*Mastaba of [[Kagemni]]
*[[Tomb of Akhethetep|Mastaba of Akhethetep]]
*[[Pyramid of Pepi I]]
*[[Pyramid of Merenre]]
*Pyramid complex of king [[Pepi II Neferkare]]
*[[Tomb of Perneb]] (now in the [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] of New York)

====First Intermediate Period monuments====
*[[Qakare Ibi#Pyramid complex|Pyramid]] of king [[Qakare Ibi|Ibi]] (Dynasty Eight)

===Middle Kingdom===
From the [[Middle Kingdom of Egypt|Middle Kingdom]] onward, Memphis was no longer the capital of the country, and kings built their funerary complexes elsewhere. Few private monuments from this period have been found at Saqqara.

====Second Intermediate Period monuments====
*[[Pyramid of Khendjer|Pyramid]] of king [[Khendjer]] (Dynasty Thirteen)
*Pyramid of an unknown king

===New Kingdom===
[[File:S10.08 Sakkara, image 9639.jpg|thumbnail|right|Apis Tombs of the [[Serapeum of Saqqara]], passage with recesses that house sarcophagi for the bulls]]
During the [[New Kingdom of Egypt|New Kingdom]], Memphis was an important administrative and military centre, being the capital after the Amarna Period. From the [[Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt|Eighteenth Dynasty]] onward, many high officials built tombs at Saqqara. While still a general, [[Horemheb]] built a large tomb here, although he later was buried as pharaoh in the [[Valley of the Kings]] at Thebes. Other important tombs belong to the vizier [[Aperel]], the vizier [[Neferronpet]], the artist [[Tomb of Thutmose|Thutmose]], the priest [[Bakenhori]] and the wet-nurse of [[Tutankhamun]], [[Maia (nurse)|Maia]].

Many monuments from earlier periods were still standing, but dilapidated by this period. Prince [[Khaemweset]], son of Pharaoh [[Ramesses II]], made repairs to buildings at Saqqara. Among other things, he restored the [[Pyramid of Unas]] and added an inscription to its south face to commemorate the restoration. He enlarged the [[Serapeum of Saqqara|Serapeum]], the burial site of the mummified [[Apis (Egyptian mythology)|Apis bulls]], and was later buried in the catacombs. The Serapeum, containing one undisturbed interment of an Apis bull and the tomb of Khaemweset, were rediscovered by the French Egyptologist [[Auguste Mariette]] in 1851.

====New Kingdom monuments====
*Several clusters of tombs of high officials, among which the tombs of [[Horemheb]] and of [[Maya (Egyptian)|Maya]] and Merit. Reliefs and statues from these two tombs are on display in the [[Rijksmuseum van Oudheden|National Museum of Antiquities]] at Leiden, the Netherlands, and in the [[British Museum]], London.

===After the New Kingdom===
During the periods after the New Kingdom, when several cities in the [[Nile Delta|Delta]] served as capital of Egypt, Saqqara remained in use as a burial ground for nobles. Moreover, the area became an important destination for pilgrims to a number of cult centres. Activities sprang up around the Serapeum, and extensive underground galleries were cut into the rock as burial sites for large numbers of mummified ibises, baboons, cats, dogs, and falcons.

====Monuments of the Late Period, the Graeco-Roman and later periods====
*Several shaft tombs of officials of the [[Late Period of ancient Egypt|Late Period]]
*[[Serapeum of Saqqara|Serapeum]] (the larger part dating to the [[Ptolemaic Period]])
*The so-called 'Philosophers circle', a monument to important [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] thinkers and poets, consisting of statues of [[Hesiod]], [[Homer]], [[Pindar]], [[Plato]], and others (Ptolemaic)
*Several [[Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria|Coptic]] monasteries, among which the [[Monastery of Apa Jeremiah]] ([[Egypt (Roman province)#Byzantine Egypt|Byzantine]] and [[Muslim conquest of Egypt|Early Islamic]] Periods)