private guided tour to Saqqara

Private guided tour to Saqqara

Martine Jardel contacted me to arrange a private guided tour to Saqqara. I asked her if she preferred to do the tour as a full-day or half-day experience. We purchased the all-inclusive ticket to the site since she chose a full-day tour.

Imhotep Museum

We visited the Imhotep Museum which was built thanks to the teamwork of Jean-Philippe Lauer, the French Egyptologist who dedicated a significant part of his life to Saqqara. This museum showcases objects he discovered at the site and highlights the architecture before the time of Pharaoh Djoser. The museum features,  a list of Egyptologists who worked on the site,  along with a map illustrating the various historical eras of the site of Saqqara.

In Saqqara, you can find the pyramids of the pharaohs and the mastabas of nobles and prominent figures who held prestigious titles.

In most of these mastabas, we can observe scenes depicting daily life in that era, notable for their exceptional preservation and the vivid quality of their colours.

We visited the Djoser complex and its iconic step pyramid which had been closed by the Egyptian government for many years but was recently reopened, it now highlights Djozer’s groundbreaking architectural innovation: the first known attempt at large-scale stone construction.

 the Mortuary Temple and Pyramid of Pharaoh Unas

It is considered the “Beautiful are the places of Unas,” dating back to the Fifth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom. It is the first pyramid to be adorned with religious texts.

During this private day tour to Saqqara, we had the opportunity to visit the tomb of the “Two Brothers” Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep, they were royal hairdressers, overseers of manicures at the palace, and trusted confidants of the pharao. The tomb was discovered in 1964 by an Egyptian archaeologist Ahmed Moussa.

Next door, we find the tomb of the Butchers discovered in 1940, with its 14 statues.

 the Serapeum of Saqqara

We did not forget to visit the necropolis of the bulls, which we consider the enigma of Sakkara because it is a different, exceptional construction, unique in the world.    Auguste Mariette discovered this site in 1851 and Egyptian authorities closed it for 15 years for its restoration. It contains 24 Aswan granite sarcophagi, each weighing between 60 and 80 tons. This cemetery is dedicated to the cult of the Apis bull, a living manifestation of the god Ptah, who was the local god of Memphis, the first capital of Pharaonic Egypt. We wondered how the ancient Egyptians managed to fit these sarcophagi into the tombs, how they managed to carve granite so perfectly, and if these sarcophagi had a funeral function or some other function.

We also visited Mehu‘s tomb, Zakie Saad discovered it in 1940 and recently opened it to visitors. Mehou was a vizier of Pharaoh Pepi I and had 48 prestigious titles. This tomb dating from the time of the 6th Dynasty composed of four rooms is well decorated colorful and rich in scenes of daily life at that time. Then, we visited the mastaba of Mereruka discovered by Jacques Morgan in 1892 and opened to the public in 1912. He too had several titles as Minister of Justice, Prime Minister, and a  High Priest and was the most powerful person after Pharaoh Teti because he was married to his daughter. We could see scenes of fishing, hunting, farming, and craftsmanship.

We finally visited the pyramid of Teti, the tombs of Kagemni, the tomb of Ti, and the mastaba of Idut.

Martine concluded that a private guided tour was necessary to make a complete visit to the site of Sakkara given its richness.