DEATH and the AFTERLIFE: PREDYNASTIC and OLD KINGDOM EGYPT: FOCUS

(Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser and the Pyramids at Gizeh)

TITLE or

DESIGNATION:

Stepped

Pyramid of King

Djoser

ARCHITECT:

Imhotep

CULTURE or

ART

HISTORICAL

PERIOD: Early

Dynastic

Egyptian

DATE: c. 2675-

2625 B.C.E.

LOCATION:

Saqqara, Egypt

ONLINE ASSIGNMENT:

https://www.khanacademy.org/h

umanities/ancient-art-

civilizations/egypt-

art/predynastic-old-

kingdom/a/old-kingdom-the-

great-pyramids-of-giza

ONLINE ASSIGNMENT:

https://www.khanacademy.org/h

umanities/ancient-art-

civilizations/egypt-

art/predynastic-old-

kingdom/a/old-kingdom-

pyramid-of-khufu

TITLE or DESIGNATION:

Pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh

CULTURE or ART

HISTORICAL PERIOD: Old

Kingdom Egyptian

DATE: c. 2560–2540 B.C.E.

LOCATION: Gizeh, Egypt

ONLINE

ASSIGNMENT:

https://www.khanacadem

y.org/humanities/ancient

-art-civilizations/egypt-

art/predynastic-old-

kingdom/a/old-kingdom-

pyramid-of-khafre-and-

the-great-sphinx

TITLE or

DESIGNATION:

Pyramid of Khafre at

Gizeh

CULTURE or ART

HISTORICAL PERIOD:

Old Kingdom Egyptian

DATE: c. 2520-2494

B.C.E.

LOCATION: Gizeh,

Egypt

TITLE or

DESIGNATION: Great

Sphinx at Gizeh

CULTURE or ART

HISTORICAL PERIOD:

Old Kingdom Egyptian

DATE: c. 2520-2494

B.C.E.

MEDIUM: Sandstone

DEATH and the AFTERLIFE: PREDYNASTIC and OLD KINGDOM EGYPT: SELECTED TEXT

(Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser and the Pyramids at Gizeh)

PYRAMIDS AT SAQQARA and

GIZEH

Online Links:

Pyramid of Djoser - Wikipedia, the free

encyclopedia

Sed festival - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mastaba - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ancient Egyptian burial customs - Wikipedia,

the free encyclopedia

Djoser - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Imhotep - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Video Images of Saqqara - Discovering Egypt

PYRAMIDS AT SAQQARA and

GIZEH

Online Links:

Ancient Egyptian Monuments: Step Pyramid

of Djoser's, Saqqara

Smarthistory - The Great Pyramids of Giza

Stepped Pyramid of Djoser - National

Geographic

EGYPTIAN

KINGDOMS

Pre- and Early Dynastic Period

(6000 - 2686 BCE)

Old Kingdom (2686– 2134

BCE)

Middle Kingdom

(2030 - 1640 BCE)

New Kingdom

(16th-11th centuries BCE)

Osiris is not only a merciful judge of the

dead in the afterlife, but also the

underworld agency that granted all life.

Through the hope of new life after death

Osiris began to be associated with the

cycles observed in nature. He wears the

Atef crown and carries a crook and a flail.

He is both the husband and brother of

Isis and the father of Horus.

Horus was born to the goddess Isis after

she retrieved all the dismembered body

parts of her murdered husband Osiris.

She used her magical powers to resurrect

Osiris and to fashion a gold phallus to

conceive her son.

Once Isis knew she was pregnant with

Horus, she fled to the Nile Delta

marshlands to hide from her brother Seth

who jealously killed Osiris and who she

knew would want to kill their son.

Imhotep. The Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser (Zoser), c. 2675-2625 BCE, Saqqara

For his tomb complex at Saqqara, King Djoser (Dynasty 3, ruled c. 2681-2662 BCE)

commissioned the earliest known monumental architecture in Egypt. The designer of

the complex was a man called Imhotep.

It appears that he first planned Djoser’s tomb as a single-story mastaba, then later

decided to enlarge upon the concept. In the end, what he produced was a stepped

pyramid consisting of six mastabalike elements of decreasing size placed on top of

each other. Although his final structure resembles the ziggurats of Mesopotamia, it

differs in both its planned concept and its purpose of protecting a tomb. Djoser’s

imposing structure was originally faced with a veneer of limestone.

A mastaba is an Old Kingdom Egyptian tomb

The shape of the pyramid was a solar reference, perhaps

intended as a solidified version of the rays of the sun. Texts talk

about the sun’s rays as a ramp the pharaoh mounts to climb to

the sky—the earliest pyramids, such as the Step Pyramid of

Djoser at Saqqara—were actually designed as a staircase. The

pyramid was also clearly connected to the sacred ben-ben stone,

an icon of the primeval mound that was considered the place of

initial creation. The pyramid was considered a place of

regeneration for the deceased ruler.

Imhotep, the architect of the

Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser,

claimed to be founder of medicine,

the papyrus scroll, and the first to

use columns in architecture.

In the form of his ka statue, Djoser was able to observe these

devotions through two peepholes bored through the wall between

the serdab and the funerary chapel.

To the east of the pyramid were sham buildings- simple masonry

shells filled with debris- representing chapels, palaces with

courtyards, and other structures. They were provided so that the

dead king could continue to observe the sed rituals that had

ensured his long reign.

His spirit could await the start of the ceremonies in a pavilion

near the entrance to the complex in its southeast corner. The

running trials of the sed festival took place in a long outdoor

courtyard within the complex.

After proving himself, the king’s spirit proceeded first to the

South Palace then to the North Palace, to be symbolically

crowned once again as king of Egypt’s Two Lands.

Statue of King Djoser from the

Third Dynasty, limestone

This serdab is located at the Mortuary Complex of Djoser at Saqqara, c. 2680

BCE (on the northeast corner of the pyramid by the entrance to the mortuary

temple; original location of Djoser’s cult statue)

The heb-sed festival (an important ritual

completed by Egyptian kings, typically after 30

years on the throne) to renew their powers.

The courtyards are symbolic of Upper and

Lower Egypt, indicated by engaged columns

with papyrus and lotus capitals.

Mastabas tended to be grouped

together in a necropolis- literally, a

“city of the dead” – at the edge of

the desert on the west bank of the

Nile, for the land of the dead was

believed to be in the direction of

the setting sun. Two of the most

extensive of these early

necropolises are at Saqqara and

Giza, just outside modern Cairo.

The engaged columns spaced

along the exterior walls of the

North Palace, for example,

resemble stalks of papyrus.

Stylized papyrus blossoms

serve as their capitals.

These columns may have been

patterned after the bundled

papyrus stalks early Egyptian

builders used to reinforce mud

walls and symbolized Lower

Egypt. By contrast, the

architectural decorations of the

South Palace featured plants

symbolic of Upper Egypt, the

flowering sedge and the lotus.

Top Left: Ba bird from the Valley of

the Kings, tomb of Tutankhamun, c.

1325 BCE

Bottom left: Scarab pendant from the

Valley of the Kings, tomb of

Tutankhamun, c. 1325 BCE

Egyptian gylphs symbolizing (left to right) life (the ankh), stability (the djed pillar),

beauty, joy, and protection

Canopic jars were used by Egyptians in the mummification process. The

heads represented the four sons of Horus. They are:

• Duamutef, the jackal-headed god whose jar contained the stomach

(representing the east)

• Qebehsenuef, the falcon-headed god whose jar contained the intestines

(representing the west)

• Hapi, the baboon-headed god whose jar contained the lungs (representing

the north)

• Inseti, the human-headed god whose jar contained the liver (representing

the south)

Preserving the deceased’s body by mummification was only the first requirement

for immortality in ancient Egypt. Food and drink also had to be provided, as did

clothing, utensils, and furniture. Nothing that had been enjoyed on earth was to be

lacking. The Egyptians also placed statuettes called ushabtis (answerers) in the

tomb. These figurines performed any labor required of the deceased in the afterlife,

answering whenever his or her name was called.

Pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh, c. 2560–2540 BCE

The largest of the three pyramids is that of Khufu’s. As with Djoser’s Stepped Pyramid,

the four sides of each of the Great Pyramids are oriented to the cardinal points of the

compass. But the funerary temples associated with the three Gizeh pyramids are not

placed on the north side, facing the stars of the northern sky, as was Djoser’s temple.

The temples sit on the east side, facing the rising sun and underscoring their

connection with Re.

At Gizeh, across the Nile from modern Cairo, stand the three Great

Pyramids, the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. They

testify to the wealth and pretensions of the Fourth Dynasty pharaohs Khufu

(r. 2551-2528 BCE), Khafre (r. 2520-2494 BCE) and Menkaure (r. 2490-2472

BCE). The new tomb shape probably reflects the influence of Heliopolis, the

seat of the powerful cult of Re, whose emblem was a pyramidal stone, the

ben-ben. The Great Pyramids are symbols of the sun, where Egyptian kings

were reborn in the afterlife, just as the sun is reborn each day at dawn.

We know that the plateau of Giza,

renowned for its three Great

Pyramids, was chosen for its ability to

withstand the burden imposed by the

mass of the construction and for its

proximity to the high waters of the

inundation. Less than a thousand

yards separated the construction site

from the harbor area where the blocks

coming from the quarry at Tura were

unloaded.

Moreover, not all the stones had to be

brought from elsewhere; the

immediate environs of Giza furnished

the majority of the blocks needed for

the masonry of the interior. Once the

king had made up his mind, it was

necessary to plan the construction

work: the number of stone blocks

needed and where they would be

extracted, the requisitioning of the

work force, and the location of villages

for the workmen near the site.

Ben-ben stone from Heliopolis

The Pyramid Texts, inscribed on the burial chambers walls of many royal tombs

beginning with the Fifth Dynasty pyramid of Urnas, refer to the sun’s rays as the

ladder the pharaoh uses to ascend to the heavens.

Many questions remain about the construction of

these massive monuments, and theories abound as to

the actual methods used. The workforce needed to

build these structures is also still much discussed.

Discovery of a town for workers to the south of the

plateau has offered some answers.

It is likely that there was a permanent group of

skilled craftsmen and builders who were

supplemented by seasonal crews of approximately

2,000 conscripted peasants.

These crews were divided into gangs of 200 men, with

each group further divided into teams of 20.

Experiments indicate that these groups of 20 men

could haul the 2.5 ton blocks from quarry to pyramid

in about 20 minutes, their path eased by a lubricated

surface of wet silt.

An estimated 340 stones could be moved daily from

quarry to construction site, particularly when one

considers that many of the blocks (such as those in

the upper courses) were considerably smaller.

Khufu’s pyramid is constructed of inner, rough-hewn, locally quarried core stones,

which is all we see today, and angled, outer casing blocks laid in even horizontal

courses with spaces filled with gypsum plaster.

The fine outer casing stones, which have long since been removed, were laid with great

precision. These blocks of white Tura limestone would have given the pyramid a

smooth surface and been quite bright and reflective. At the very top of the pyramid

would have sat a capstone, known as a pyramidion, that may have been gilt. This

dazzling point, shining in the intense sunlight, would have been visible for a great

distance.

The interior chambers and

passageways of Khufu’s pyramid are

unique and include a number of

enigmatic features. There is an

unfinished subterranean chamber

whose function is mysterious as well

as a number of so-called “air shafts”

that radiate out from the upper

chambers.

These have recently been explored

using small robots, but a series of

blocking stones have obscured the

passages. When entering the

pyramid, one has to crawl up a

cramped ascending chamber that

opens suddenly into a stunning

Grand Gallery. This corbelled

passage soars to a height of 8.74 m

(26 feet) and leads up to the King’s

Chamber, which is constructed

entirely from red granite brought

from the southern quarries at

Aswan.

The king’s sarcophagus, carved from red

granite, sits empty at the exact central axis of

the pyramid. This burial chamber was sealed

with a series of massive granite blocks and the

entrance to the shaft filled with limestone in

an effort to obscure the opening.

Khufu’s mortuary complex also included seven

large boat pits. Five of these are located to the

east of the pyramid and were a sort of model;

these brick-lined boat shaped elements were

probably intended for use in the afterlife to

transport the king to stellar destinations.

Boat burials and models of this type had a

long history in royal mortuary contexts—a

fleet of 14 such pits, containing actual boats

averaging 18-19 meters (60 feet) in length

encased inside, were discovered at a Dynasty 1

mortuary enclosure in Abydos, the cemetery of

Egypt’s earliest kings. Often, however, as with

Khufu, the pits were simply boat shaped

models rather than containing actual boats.

In addition to these model boat pits, however, on the south side of the pyramid Khufu

had two massive, rectangular stone lined pits that contained completely disassembled

boats. One of these has been removed and reconstructed in a special museum on the

south side of the pyramid. This cedar boat measures 43.3 meters (142 feet) in length

and was constructed of 1,224 separate pieces stitched together with ropes. These boats

appear to have been used for the funerary procession and as ritual objects connected to

the last earthly voyage of the king, and were then dismantled and interred.

Pyramid of Khafre at Gizeh, c. 2520-2494 BCE

The second great pyramid of Giza, that was built by Khufu’s second son Khafre, has a

section of outer casing that still survives at the very top (and which would have

entirely covered all three of the great pyramids at Giza). Although this monument

appears larger than that of his father, it is actually slightly smaller but was

constructed 10 m (33 feet) higher on the plateau.

From the remains surrounding the

Pyramid of Khafre at Gizeh,

archaeologists have been able to

reconstruct an entire funerary

complex.

The complex included the pyramid

itself with the pharaoh’s burial

chamber; the mortuary temple

adjoining the pyramid on the east

side, where offerings were made to

the dead king, ceremonies

performed, and cloth, food, and

ceremonial vessels stored; the

covered causeway, or raised

corridor, who walls were decorated

with painted reliefs; and the valley

temple at the edge of the

floodplain.

The interior is much simpler than

that of Khufu’s pyramid, with a

single burial chamber, one small

subsidiary chamber, and two

passageways. The mortuary

temple at the pyramid base was

more complex than that of Khufu

and was filled with statuary of the

king--over 52 life-size or larger

images originally filled the

structure.

Khafre’s valley temple, located at

the east end of the causeway

leading from the pyramid base, is

beautifully preserved. It was

constructed of megalithic blocks

sheathed with granite and floors of

polished white calcite. Statue

bases indicate that an additional

24 images of the pharaoh were

originally located in this temple.

Map of the Giza Plateau,

showing the mastabas (Old

Kingdom Tombs as seen above)

constructed within the complex

In addition to these major

structures, several smaller

pyramids belonging to queens

are arranged as satellites. A

major cemetery of smaller

tombs, known as mastabas

(Arabic for ‘bench’ in reference

to their shape—flat-roofed,

rectangular, with sloping

sides), fills the area to the east

and west of the pyramid of

Khufu and were constructed in

a grid-like pattern for

prominent members of the

court. Being buried near the

pharaoh was a great honor and

helped ensure a prized place in

the afterlife.

The three Great Pyramids attest

to Egyptian builders’ mastery of

stone masonry and to their

ability to mobilize, direct, house,

and feed a huge workforce

engaged in one of the most lab0r-

intensive enterprises ever

undertaken.

Like all building projects of this

type, the process of erecting the

pyramids began with the

quarrying of stone, in this case

primarily the limestone of the

Gizeh plateau itself. Often, the

artisans had to cut deep tunnels

to find high-quality stone free of

cracks and other flaws. They

pried the stones free from the

bedrock with wooden levers.

At completion, the Great Pyramid was surfaced by white “casing stones” – slant-faced,

but flat-topped, blocks of highly polished white limestone. Later explorers reported

massive piles of rubble at the base of the pyramids left over from the continuing collapse

of casing stones, which were subsequently cleared away during continuing excavations of

the site. Nevertheless, a few of the casing stones from the lowest course can be seen to

this day in situ around the base of the Great Pyramid, and display the same

workmanship and precision as has been reported for centuries. Creating this type of

smooth surface is what architectural historians call ashlar masonry.

Khafre (Gizeh), c. 2575-2525 BCE, diorite

Khafre was an Egyptian pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty, who had his capital at

Memphis. According to some authors he was the son and successor of Khufu, but it is

more commonly accepted that Djedefre was Khufu's successor and Khafre was

Djedefre's brother and successor.

Khafre was the builder of the second largest pyramid at the Giza Necropolis complex

(his is 3 metres shorter than Khufu's). Most modern Egyptologists also credit him with

the building of the Great Sphinx.

The Sphinx is carved from the bedrock of the Giza plateau, and it appears that the core

blocks used to construct the king’s valley temple were quarried from the layers of stone

that run along the upper sides of this massive image.

The lion was a royal symbol as well as being connected with the sun as a symbol of the

horizon; the fusion of this powerful animal with the head of the pharaoh was an icon

that survived and was often used throughout Egyptian history. The king’s head is on a

smaller scale than the body. This appears to have been due to a defect in the stone; a

weakness recognized by the sculptors who compensated by elongating the body.

Directly in front of the Sphinx is a separate temple dedicated to the worship of its cult,

but very little is known about it since there are no Old Kingdom texts that refer to the

Sphinx or its temple. The temple is similar to Khafre’s mortuary temple and has

granite pillars forming a colonnade around a central courtyard. However, it is unique

in that it has two sanctuaries—one on the east and one on the west—likely connected to

the rising and setting sun.

On the south side are the subsidiary pyramids, popularly known as Queens'

Pyramids. Three remain standing to nearly full height but the fourth was so ruined

that its existence was not suspected until the recent discovery of the first course of

stones and the remains of the capstone. Hidden beneath the paving around the

pyramid was the tomb of Queen Hetepheres I, sister and wife of Sneferu and mother

of Khufu.

To keep the construction effort running

smoothly all year round without interfering

with agricultural work, teams of about

twenty thousand men were rotated every

three to four months. The work week was

nine days, with the tenth devoted to leisure.

The workmen took advantage of their free

day to return home to see their families or

simply to wash their clothes and make their

bread for the coming week. Remains of

workshops, storehouses, and shacks have

been unearthed in the vicinity of the

pyramids of Giza.

Each hut was designed to shelter a dozen

workers and had a kitchen, a cellar, and an

oven for baking. Tombs of workers who died

laboring on the pyramid were discovered in

1992 by Egyptian archaeologists at the

southeast of the Giza plateau. Study of

their skeletons has revealed that all the

men suffered from serious pathologies of

the spinal column and coccyx from the

excessive strain of hauling and carrying.

Above: Worker tombs at Gizeh

DEATH and the AFTERLIFE: PREDYNASTIC and OLD KINGDOM EGYPT: ACTIVITIES and REVIEW

(Stepped Pyramid of King Djoser and the Pyramids at Gizeh)

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