Editing Saqqara (section)

===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.