Editing Djoser (section)

==Reign==
=== Third Dynasty ===
The lands of Upper and Lower Egypt were united into a single kingdom sometime around 2686 BC. The period following the unification of the crowns was one of prosperity, marked by the start of the [[Third Dynasty of Egypt|Third Dynasty]] and the [[Old Kingdom]] of Egypt. The exact identity of the founder of the dynasty is a matter of debate, due to the fragmentary nature of the records from the period. Djoser is one of the principal candidates for the founder of the Third Dynasty. Other candidates are [[Nebka]] and [[Sanakht]]. Complicating matters further is the possibility that Nebka and Sanakht are referring to the same person.{{sfn|Baker|Baker|2001|p=15}}

Egyptologist [[Toby Wilkinson]] believes that the weight of archeological evidence favours Djoser (Netjerikhet) as Khasekhemwy's successor and therefore founder of the Third Dynasty. A seal from Khasekhemwy's tomb at Abydos, in combination with a seal from mastaba K1 at Beit Khallaf dated to Djoser's reign, links the two pharaohs together as father and son respectively. The seal at Abydos names a 'Nimaat-hap' as the mother of Khasekhemwy's children, while the other seal at Beit Khallaf names the same person as the 'mother of the dual-king'. Further archaeological evidence linking the reigns of the two pharaohs together are found at Shunet et-Zebib, which suggest that Djoser oversaw the burial of his predecessor. Ritual [[Stone vessels in Ancient Egypt|stone vessels]] found at the sites of the tombs &ndash; Khasekhemwy's tomb at Abydos and Djoser's tomb at Saqqara &ndash; of the two pharaohs also appear to have come from the same collection, as samples from both sites contain identical imagery of the god Min. This archeological evidence is supplemented by at least one historical source, the Saqqara king list, which names Djoser as the immediate successor of Bebti &ndash; a ramesside misreading of Khasekhemwy.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2001|pp=79 & 81}}

=== Length of reign ===
[[File:S10.08 Sakkara, image 9638.jpg|thumbnail|left|Step pyramid of Djoser, old photograph]]
Manetho states Djoser ruled Egypt for twenty-nine years, while the Turin King List states it was only nineteen years. Because of his many substantial building projects, particularly at Saqqara, some scholars argue Djoser must have enjoyed a reign of nearly three decades. Manetho's figure appears to be more accurate, according to Wilkinson's analysis and reconstruction of the Royal Annals. Wilkinson reconstructs the Annals as giving Djoser "'''28 complete or partial years'''", noting that the [[Cattle count (Egypt)|cattle counts]] recorded on [[Palermo stone]] [[Register (sculpture)|register]] V, and ''Cairo Fragment 1'', register V, for the beginning and ending of Djoser's reign, would most likely indicate his regnal years 1–5 and 19–28. Unfortunately, next to all entries are illegible today. The [[Coronation of the pharaoh|Year of coronation]] is preserved, followed by the year events ''receiving the twin-pillars'' and ''stretching the cords for the fortress Qau-Netjerw ("hills of the gods")''.{{sfn|Wilkinson|2000|pp=79 & 258}}

=== Period of reign ===
Various sources provide various dates for Djoser's reign. Professor of Ancient Near East history  [[Marc van de Mieroop]] dates Djoser's reign to somewhere between 2686 BC to 2648 BC.{{sfn|Mieroop|2010|p=55}} Authors [[Joann Fletcher]] and Michael Rice date his reign from 2667 BC to 2648 BC giving a regnal period of 18 partial or complete years.{{sfn|Fletcher|2015|p=7}}{{sfn|Rice|1999|p=50}} Rice further states that Nebkha was Djoser's brother and predecessor. Writer Farid Atiya provides a similar regnal period to Fletcher and Rice, offset by a single year &ndash; 2668 BC to 2649 BC.{{sfn|Atiya|2006|pp=30 & 103}} This dating is supported by authors Rosalie and Charles Baker in ''Ancient Egypt: People of the Pyramids''.{{sfn|Baker|Baker|2001|p=17}} Egyptologist Abeer el-Shahawy in association with the [[Egyptian Museum]] in Cairo places Djoser's reign to the period of 2687 BC to 2668 BC for a similar 18 partial or complete years.{{sfn|El-Shahawy|Al-Masri|2005|p=39}} Author Margaret Bunson places Djoser as the second ruler of the Third Dynasty, and places his reign to the period of 2630 BC to 2611 BC for 19 partial or complete year reign.{{sfn|Bunson|2014|p=103}} In her chronology, Djoser is preceded by Nebka as the "Founder of the Third Dynasty", reigning for the period 2649 BC to 2630 BC.{{sfn|Bunson|2014|pp=105 & 264}} She, like Rice, makes Nebka a brother of Djoser.{{sfn|Bunson|2014|p=264}}

=== Military expeditions ===
[[Image:Sehel-steleFamine (cropped).jpg|right|thumb|220px|The Famine Stela, mentioning Djoser.]]
Djoser dispatched several military expeditions to the [[Sinai Peninsula]], during which the local inhabitants were subdued. He also sent expeditions there to mine for valuable minerals such as [[turquoise]] and [[copper]]. This is known from inscriptions found in the desert there, sometimes displaying the banner of [[Set (mythology)|Set]] alongside the symbols of [[Horus]], as had been more common under Khasekhemwy. The Sinai was also strategically important as a buffer between the [[Nile]] valley and Asia.

===Construction projects===
His most famous monument was his [[step pyramid]], which entailed the construction of several [[mastaba]] tombs one over another.{{sfn|Atiya|2006|p=103}} These forms would eventually lead to the standard pyramid tomb in the later [[Old Kingdom]]. Manetho, many centuries later, alludes to architectural advances of this reign, mentioning that "Tosorthros" discovered how to build with hewn stone, in addition to being remembered as the physician [[Aesculapius]], and for introducing some reforms in the writing system. Modern scholars think that Manetho originally ascribed (or meant to ascribe) these feats to ''Imuthes'', who was later deified as ''Aesculapius'' by the Greeks and Romans, and who corresponds to [[Imhotep]], the famous minister of Djoser who engineered the Step Pyramid's construction.

Some fragmentary reliefs found at [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] and [[Gebelein]] mention Djoser's name, and suggest he commissioned construction projects in those cities. Also, he may have fixed the southern boundary of his kingdom at the [[First Cataract]]. An inscription known as the [[Famine Stela]] and claiming to date to the reign of Djoser, but probably created during the [[Ptolemaic Dynasty]], relates how Djoser rebuilt the temple of [[Khnum]] on the island of [[Elephantine]] at the First Cataract, thus ending a seven-year famine in Egypt. Some consider this ancient inscription as a legend at the time it was inscribed. Nonetheless, it does show that more than two millennia after his reign, Egyptians still remembered Djoser.

Although he seems to have started an unfinished tomb at Abydos (Upper Egypt), Djoser was eventually buried in his famous pyramid at Saqqara in Lower Egypt. Since Khasekhemwy, a pharaoh from the 2nd dynasty, was the last pharaoh to be buried at Abydos, some Egyptologists infer that the shift to a more northerly capital was completed during Djoser's time.