13 information about the southern tomb of King Djoser after its opening

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the opening of the southern tomb of King Djoser in the Saqqara antiquities area, today, free of charge, to journalists, and that is an exception, as the area that will be opened for a visit in the cemetery will include the stairs and the well up to the coffin only and the internal corridors below that will be closed to the visit, After it was inaugurated by Dr. Khaled El-Anany yesterday, after its closure for 15 years, accompanied by Dr. Mustafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and Brigadier Engineer Hisham Samir, Assistant Minister for Engineering Affairs, and for this we review through the next lines everything you want to know about the cemetery.


Southern Cemetery
The southern tomb of King Djoser is located in the southern corner of his funerary complex in the Saqqara antiquities area.

The cemetery consists of two parts.

The upper part consists of a limestone mastaba building with a frieze decorated with cobra serpents.

The lower part is carved into the rock of the plateau at a depth of about 30 meters.

The lower part can be accessed by a stone staircase that leads to a door carved in the rock and then to the entrance corridor with a stone staircase that leads in turn to the cemetery door.

The cemetery door also leads to the interior corridors leading to the level of the tomb spaces containing the frescoes decorated with pieces of ceramic made of blue vines.

In the descending corridor of the tomb there is a well and a burial chamber built with a pink granite sarcophagus similar to the burial chamber in the Step Pyramid.

There are also many other spaces whose walls are decorated with pieces of ceramic made of faience.

The cemetery restoration project began in 2006 to include engineering, geotechnical, geo-environmental and archaeological studies of the cemetery.

The restoration of the lower corridors, the strengthening of the walls and ceilings, the removal of cracks, and the installation of faience tiles to complete the interior elements of the cemetery was carried out.

Southern Cemetery
The granite sarcophagus at the bottom of the burial well was reassembled and restored.

The cemetery was rehabilitated for visiting by paving the floors, installing a ladder leading to the well and the cemetery, and fully lighting it.

The visit to the cemetery includes the stairs and the well up to the coffin only, and below that the internal corridors will be closed to the visit.