Saqqara Pyramids

On Saturday I went to see the pyramids at Saqqara with my flatmates. They're only about 40 km outside of the city, past the Giza pyramids. However, getting there turned out to be half of the adventure. We opted for a taxi, which is a pretty common way to see the sights but, as is also common, the driver had no idea where he was going. Rather than admit this, he set off in the vague direction of Giza and drove around for a while before asking directions. When we finally arrived, he was clearly unhappy with how far away from Cairo we were and asked an unreasonable sum of money for the trip. Bargaining ensued... other taxi drivers were called in to participate and, to our surprise, they sided with us. (The fare ended up being about $17 to go out and back. Not bad, although probably still too much.)

So on to the pyramids... the Pyramid Age began around 2700 BCE and marked a change from the traditional underground burial practice. The first pyramid was built at Saqqara (seen in the background of the above photo) but it contained "steps"--the first true pyramids were built 100 years later at Dashur and Giza.

Saqqara was the burial site for Egypt's nobility during the 3rd and 4th Dynasties; the pyramid itself was for King Zoser. The photo below is of the priests' area surrounding the pyramid. We also went into some of the traditional tombs, which are more interesting to look at as the walls are covered with drawings and hieroglyphics. Unfortunately, they don't photograph well too well (bottom pic).