Editing Pyramid of Djoser (section)

=== Enclosure wall ===
The complex is enclosed by a wall {{cvt|10.5|m|ft}} high that stretched for over {{cvt|1.6|km|mi}}. This wall was built from a thick core of masonry that was encased with Tura limestone, wholly on the outside but partially on the inside.{{sfn|Edwards|1993|pp=50–51}} The external façade of the wall had a [[bastion]] at a regular interval of {{cvt|4.1|m|ft}} adorned with 1,680 hand-carved niches {{cvt|9|m|ft}} tall.{{sfn|Lehner|2008|p=84}}{{sfn|Edwards|1993|p=51}} Fourteen of these bastions were larger than the rest. These hosted false double-doors, while a fifteenth situated in the south-east corner of the east façade held the real entrance.{{sfn|Edwards|1993|p=51}}{{sfn|Verner|2001d|p=112}} The entrance was [[Flanking tower|flanked by two towers]] leading to a passage past which lay the colonnaded entrance.{{sfn|Edwards|1993|p=51}}

The enclosure wall design recalls the appearance of [[First Dynasty of Egypt|First Dynasty]] tombs, such as those found directly north of the complex and at Abydos.{{sfn|Edwards|1993|p=51}}{{sfn|Spencer|1993|pp=98–99}}{{sfn|Robins|1997|p=40}} Alan Spencer compares the design to the panelled construction of the palace façade, which imitates bound [[Strapping|bundle]]s of reeds.{{sfn|Spencer|1993|pp=98–99}} Jean-Philippe Lauer suggests that the wall was modelled after the "White Walls" of Memphis, though Verner notes that the presence of so many doors renders this unlikely.{{sfn|Edwards|1993|p=51}}{{sfn|Verner|2001d|p=112}} [[:de:Hermann Kees|Hermann Kees]] thought the fifteen doors were related to the ''sed'' festival and indicated its duration as being half a lunar month.{{sfn|Verner|2001d|p=112}} The remaining doors are known as false doors, and were meant for the king's use in the afterlife. They functioned as portals through which the king's ''ka'' could pass between life and the afterlife.{{sfn|Siliotti|Hawass|1997|pp=105–113}}

<gallery class="center" widths="160px" heights="160px">
Saqqara BW 1.jpg|Enclosure wall of the step pyramid complex
Saqqara, tempio di Djoser, 02.JPG|Entrance corridor facing towards the desert
Saqqarah Djeser 01.jpg|The bastions with hand-carved recesses 
</gallery>