The Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, the necropolis of the ancient city of Memphis. Built around 2650 BC, it is about a hundred years older than the Giza pyramids and much smaller---about 60 meters high compared to about 140 meters for the largest pyramid at Giza. However, King Djoser got the pyramid fad underway! Called a step pyramid (for obvious reasons), it was originally clad with polished white limestone, very little of which appears to remain. Pyramids were built to facilitate the king's ascension to the afterlife (although variants on the theories, sub-theories, hypotheses, conjectures, etc. abound).
The temple complex entrance colonnade, designed to look like bundled reeds.
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