How did men equipped only with copper tools, ropes, and wooden sleds manage to move millions of stone blocks weighing between 2 and 70 tons each? The question has haunted Egyptology for two centuries, and it is at Saqqara, Egypt's oldest great necropolisNecropolisA large organised burial ground, a "city of the dead", often spanning several periods.→, that the most fascinating answers are beginning to emerge. Recent excavations have uncovered workshops, ramps, tools, and even construction diaries that finally shed light on the mystery of pyramid building.1

The necropolis of Saqqara stretches over nearly 7 kilometers along the western bank of the Nile, facing the ancient capital Memphis. It brings together monuments spanning more than 3,000 years of Egyptian history, from the mastabas of the First Dynasty (3100 BCE) to the tombs of the Ptolemaic period. This exceptional architectural palimpsest allows archaeologists to study the evolution of construction techniques over the long term - a living testament to the Egyptian mastery of stone.2

Overview of the pyramids of Saqqara in the Egyptian desert
Overview of the Saqqara site: Djoser's step pyramidStep pyramidEgypt's first great stone monument, raised for King Djoser at Saqqara by Imhotep (Third Dynasty), by stacking diminishing mastabas.→ dominates a landscape where mastabas, pyramids, and funerary complexes spanning three millennia of Egyptian history stand side by side.

Among the most important discoveries of recent decades, the "Merer Papyrus" - found in 2013 at the Wadi el-Jarf site - constitutes a revolution. This logbook kept by an officer named Merer, dating to the reign of Khufu, describes in detail the transport operations of white limestone blocks from Tura to the Giza plateau by river. It is the first contemporary document of the construction of the Great Pyramid ever discovered, and it confirms the crucial role of the Nile and its canals in the titanic logistics of the construction site.3

At Saqqara itself, excavations conducted since 2018 by the joint mission led by Zahi Hawass have uncovered dozens of intact sarcophagi, mummification workshops with their complete equipment, and gilded wooden statues still gleaming after 2,500 years. These spectacular discoveries remind us that Saqqara, despite intensive excavations over two centuries, still harbors immense riches. This SLICE Histoire documentary explores these construction secrets and the techniques that Egyptians spent generations perfecting.4