Today we were just a 2-person family. Piet drove Paula to the stable for a ride in the desert and took the opportunity to visit Saqqara again. Saqqara is a huge pharaonic cemetary, dominated by the first real pyramid, the Step Pyramid of Zoser. This is surrounded by numerous other pyramids, tombs and mastaba's (a tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure). Although we have been many times, we still hadn't visited all the sites. Piet went to see the pyramid of Teti, which looks like a small, 10 m high sandy hill. The interior is still in very good shape and you can enter the burial chamber and see the sarcophagus, and walls covered with many hieroglyphs. Next door is the mastaba of Kagemni, who is thought to have been a judge and priest. The walls are covered with detailed reliefs, with many fishing scenes. Unfortunately Mereruka's tomb, the neighbouring mastaba, was closed for renovation. Next on the itenary was the small, but excellent Saqqara museum, with a large number of artefacts properly displayed and labeled. Something you really hope the Egyptian Museum would end up looking some day! After a wonder around the south side of the Step Pyramid it was time to pick up Paula again, and drive home for lunch and Dutch lessons.
Teti's pyramid (left) and some of the hieroglyphs in the burial chamber (above)
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