My World Tour - Saqqara, Egypt:  Step Pyramids and Tombs

Today's History Lesson:  Saqqara, Egypt (No snoozing in the back of the class, your boss will hear you.)

When Memphis was the capital of Egypt, (founded around 3100 BC, probably by King Menes, when Upper and Lower Egypt were first united, Saqqara was its necropolis.  Deceased pharaohs, family members and sacred animals were ceremoniously transported form Memphis to be permanently enshrined in one of the myriad temples, pyramids and tombs at Saqqara.

In the 300 years between the foundation of Memphis and the end of Greek rule under the Ptolemies, the necropolis grew until it covered a 7 km stretch of the Western Desert.  In terms of the value of what has been and has yet to b e uncovered, there are few archaeological sites in the world that compare with Saqqara, yet, apart from the Step Pyramid, the necropolis was virtually ignored by archaeologists until the mid-19th century, when Auguste Mariette found the Serapeum.  Even the massive mortuary complex surrounding Zoser's Step Pyramid wasn't discovered and reclaimed from the sand until 1924, and it's still being restored.