Step Pyramid of Djoser

Rising in six stages to about 62 metres, the Step Pyramid began as a square mastaba tomb and was enlarged several times until it became a stairway to the sky.

It sits inside a 15-hectare enclosure whose limestone wall imitates a palace façade, with dummy buildings for the king’s jubilee festival carved in solid stone. Beneath it lies a maze of galleries, some lined with blue faience tiles.