Photos

A shot of the famous step pyramid in Saqqara which is believed to be the world's oldest monumental stone building. While we were in Egypt we always had this amazing deep-blue and cloudless sky.

"The Great Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara, known to the ancient Egyptians as kbhw-ntrw (libation of the deities), is one of those superstars of Egyptian monuments that is almost always on the itinerary of antiquity tours to Egypt, and for good reason. Few monuments hold a place in human history as significant as that of this Pyramid. It can be said without exaggeration that the Step Pyramid complex constitutes a milestone in the evolution of monumental stone architecture, both in Egypt and in the world as a whole. It is the beginning of an evolutionary period that would eventually see the polished, smooth faced true pyramids of the 4th Dynasty master builders.

Here limestone was first used on a large scale as a construction material, and here the idea of a monumental royal tomb in the form of a pyramid was first truly realized. In a 19th Dynasty inscription found in South Saqqara, the ancient Egyptians were already desribing its builder as the "opener of stone", which can be interpreted as meaning the inventor of stone architecture."

Reference: "The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara in Egypt. Part I: An Introduction" by Alan Winston

Rotated and cropped accordingly, sharpened.