Saqqara – The Ancient Egyptian Necropolis

Of all of the Egyptian pyramids, probably the most well-known and oft-visited is the Great Pyramid located on the outskirts of Cairo in the Giza necropolis. However, many other historical sites draw the attention of locals, tourists, and scientists, too. One of those is the Step Pyramid of Djoser in the Saqqara necropolis.

Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, and is known as the city of the dead. Saqqara contains numerous pyramids and tombs. The Step Pyramid of Djoser is claimed to be the oldest complete stone building complex currently known throughout the world. Saqqara was an important complex for non-royal burials and rituals for 3,000 years, and, as such, the site holds many secrets about how the ancients valued their dead.

In addition to housing thousand-year-old corpses, Saqqara has an additional eerie aspect. For believers in curses, many of the tombs have curses inscribed on the walls. Salima Ikram, an Egyptologist at the American University of Cairo, explained in an email to Business Insider that the inscribed misfortunes were intended to scare off possible trespassers and grave robbers. The curses vary in severity, from milder results like having all of one’s property stolen, to mid-range impacts like psychiatric afflictions such as seeing ghosts, to the most severe—death. 

Egypt is one of the most fascinating countries with respect to relics and knowledge of an ancient civilization. At Saqqara, Archaeologists are still exploring the vast labyrinths of underground passages and tombs. Undoubtedly, there will be more discoveries to come, which will add to our knowledge of this great, ancient civilization.