Saqqara

Burial ground

Saqqara (Arabic: سقارة, Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: [sɑʔːɑːɾɑ]), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English /səˈkɑːrə/, is an Egyptian village in the markaz (county) of Badrashin in the Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara contains numerous pyramids, including the Pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb, and a number of mastaba tombs. Located some 30 km (19 mi) south of modern-day Cairo, Saqqara covers an area of around 7 by 1.5 km (4.3 by 0.9 mi). Saqqara contains the oldest complete stone building complex known in history, the Pyramid of Djoser, built during the Third Dynasty. Another sixteen Egyptian kings built pyramids at Saqqara, which are now in various states of preservation. High officials added private funeral monuments to this necropolis during the entire Pharaonic period. It remained an important complex for non-royal burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3000 years, well into Ptolemaic and Roman times. North of the Saqqara site lies the Abusir pyramid complex, and to its south lies the Dahshur pyramid complex, and together with the Giza Pyramid complex to the far north comprise the Pyramid Fields of Memphis, or the Memphite Necropolis, which was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979. Some scholars believe that the name Saqqara is not derived from the ancient Egyptian funerary deity, Sokar, but from a local Berber tribe called the Beni Saqqar, despite the fact that a tribe of this name is not documented anywhere. Medieval authors also refer to the village as Ard as-Sadr (Arabic: ارض السدر, lit. 'land of the buckthorn').