Saqqara. Thirty kilometers south of Cairo, on the desert plateau overlooking the Nile Valley, stands the oldest monumental stone structure in human history: the Step PyramidStep pyramidEgypt's first great stone monument, raised for King Djoser at Saqqara by Imhotep (Third Dynasty), by stacking diminishing mastabas.→ of PharaohPharaohThe title of the ruler of ancient Egypt, regarded as a living god guaranteeing cosmic order (Maat), supreme head of state, army and worship.→ Djoser, built around 2650 BCE. For four millennia, this masterpiece by architect Imhotep seemed to have given up all its secrets. Excavations conducted since the 2010s prove otherwise: beneath the sands of Saqqara, an unexpectedly rich necropolisNecropolisA large organised burial ground, a "city of the dead", often spanning several periods.→ continues to yield extraordinary treasures.

Saqqara is not just the pyramid of Djoser. It is a vast necropolis used for more than 3,000 years, from the early Old KingdomOld KingdomThe first great period of unified pharaonic Egypt (c. 2700-2200 BC, 3rd-6th Dynasties), the golden age of the great pyramids and of a strongly centralised state.→ to the Ptolemaic period. Its mastabas, burialBurialThe intentional deposition of a body, sometimes with offerings; a marker of symbolic behaviour.→ shafts and underground complexes form a labyrinth that has barely been scratched. The international archaeological teams working there today know this well: each season brings its share of extraordinary discoveries.

Imhotep and the Architectural Revolution

Around 2650 BCE, one man accomplished something no architect had ever attempted: replacing mud-brick mastabas with hewn limestone, then stacking six diminishing mastabas to create a stepped pyramid 62 meters high. That man was Imhotep, vizierVizierThe highest official of the Egyptian state after the pharaoh (Egyptian "tjaty"): effectively a prime minister directing administration, justice, the treasury and public works in the king's name.→ and architect to Pharaoh Djoser. His achievement represents a radical break in the history of world architecture.

Saqqara necropolis from above, with Djoser's Step Pyramid, Egypt
The Saqqara necropolis, photographed from the desert. At center, Djoser's Step Pyramid (c. 2650 BCE), the first great stone construction in human history. Around it, centuries of mastabas and funerary monuments stretch across the plateau.

Djoser's funerary complex extends far beyond the pyramid itself. It encompasses an enclosure 544 by 277 meters, ceremonial courtyards, a chapel, storehouses and dummy buildings representing the royal palace for eternity. Beneath the pyramid, a network of galleries cut 28 meters deep leads to the pharaoh's granite burial chamber. Imhotep is the only architect of Antiquity to have been deified -- venerated as a god of medicine and wisdom for centuries after his death.

An Underestimated Pyramid

For much of the 20th century, Saqqara suffered from comparison with Giza. The pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure monopolized the attention of archaeologists and tourists alike. Djoser's pyramid, though older, seemed less spectacular. It was only from the 1990s onward that international missions began systematically exploring the necropolis as a whole.

Step Pyramid of Djoser, Saqqara, Egypt
The Step Pyramid of Djoser (c. 2650 BCE), standing 62 meters tall, is the first large-scale cut-stone construction in history. Restored during the 2000s-2010s, it has recovered its original appearance.

In 2006, the Waseda University archaeological mission (Japan) uncovered a previously unknown network of underground tunnels beneath the funerary complex. Then, in 2018, a major discovery upended the picture: a 4,400-year-old mummyMummyA body preserved from decay, naturally (cold, aridity, peat) or artificially; the frozen Pazyryk kurgans yielded natural mummies with tattooed skin.→ covered in gold leaf was unearthed from a burial shaft within the necropolis enclosure. Identified as belonging to a senior official named Hekashepes, it was intact and perfectly preserved -- one of the most significant finds of the decade.

2020-2021: The Season of Sarcophagi

In September 2020, the team of Dr. Zahi Hawass and Egypt's Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities made a resounding announcement: 59 sealed painted wooden sarcophagi, untouched for 2,500 years, had been discovered in several shafts in Saqqara's Ouahette sector. The coffins -- some polychrome, decorated with hieroglyphic texts and deity representations -- contained the mummies of priests and officials from the Late Period (664-332 BCE).

View of Saqqara's Step Pyramid from the desert
The Step Pyramid of Djoser in its desert setting. The Saqqara site covers more than 7 square kilometers and has only been partially explored: the vast majority of underground tombs and monuments remain undiscovered.

In November 2020, 14 additional sarcophagi were found in a third shaft. Then in January 2021, 50 more mummified bodies in their coffins -- including those of children and sacred animals (ibises, falcons, cats). In under a year, more than 150 sarcophagi had been exhumed from Saqqara. This is no coincidence: excavations, intensified since 2018 with new funding and ground-penetrating radar (GPR), are now systematically exploring areas never previously investigated.

The Serapeum: Catacombs of the Sacred Bulls

Among Saqqara's most spectacular monuments is the Serapeum, discovered in 1850 by French archaeologist Auguste Mariette. This complex of underground galleries, extending over 500 meters, served as the burial place of the Apis bulls -- living embodiments of the god Ptah, and later Serapis. Each sacred bull, selected at birth for its distinctive markings, was mummified at death and interred in a black granite sarcophagus weighing up to 70 tonnes.

The Serapeum of Saqqara, underground galleries and Apis bull sarcophagi
The Serapeum of Saqqara: the underground galleries that housed the sarcophagi of the Apis bulls, sacred animals representing the god Ptah. Discovered in 1850 by Auguste Mariette, this unique funerary complex extends over 500 meters beneath the desert.

Recent excavations in the vicinity of the Serapeum have revealed new unexplored sectors. Deity statues, amulets, bronzes and papyri have been found in caches sealed since Antiquity. The Spanish-Egyptian mission working in this area has also identified several tombs of high New Kingdom officials (1550-1070 BCE) whose walls are covered in painted scenes of exceptional quality. Saqqara, the world's oldest necropolis, has not finished speaking.