Editing Pyramid of Djoser (section)

=== South court ===
The south court is a large court between the south tomb and the pyramid. Within the court are curved stones thought to be territorial markers associated with the [[Sed festival|Heb-sed festival]], an important ritual completed by Egyptian kings (typically after 30 years on the throne) to renew their powers.<ref name="Kathryn A. Bard 2008"/> These would have allowed Djoser to claim control over all of Egypt,<ref name="Kathryn A. Bard 2008"/> while its presence in the funerary complex would allow Djoser to continue to benefit from the ritual in the afterlife.<ref name="Gay Robins 2000">[[Gay Robins]], ''The Art of Ancient Egypt'' (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000), 40–45.</ref> At the southern end of the court was a platform approached by steps. It has been suggested that this was a platform for the double throne. This fits into the theory proposed by Barry Kemp, and generally accepted by many, that suggests the whole step pyramid complex symbolizes the royal palace enclosure and allows the king to eternally perform the rituals associated with kingship.<ref name="Gay Robins 2000"/> At the very south of the South Court lay the South Tomb.