2 Best Sights in Cairo, Egypt

For more than 3 millenia, Saqqara was used as a burial ground, bearing witness to many mortuary practices along the way. The beautiful non-royal tombs of the New Kingdom (1550–1077 BC) feature underground burial chambers and open, above-ground courtyards with tomb chapels typically surmounted by small pyramids.

South of the Unas Pyramid's causeway are a handful of tombs that belonged to eminent officials of the 18th to 20th dynasties, all lying within one wider complex. Among these officials was ‘Aperizia, a vizier of Amenhotep III; Ptahemwia, the "Royal Butler, Clean of Hands” under the rule of Akhenaten and Tutankhamun; Maia, the overseer of treasury; and Meryneith, the scribe. A tomb intended for Horemheb, the military general during Tutankhamun’s reign, also lies within the complex.

The meticulous art etched on the walls of these tombs was done by the best ancient artists and craftsmen, many of whom had practiced in the royal capital of Amarna. Many tombs here were also discovered with stelas and statues of the deceased within, but these artifacts have been moved to museums elsewhere.

This underground complex houses the most significant cult animals buried in Saqqara: the sacred Apis bulls, which were considered incarnations of the god Ptah. It is believed that each animal was very carefully selected, with the priests looking for special markings of divinity. In life, the bulls were as well-treated as they were revered. Upon death, they were mummified and placed in great (and extraordinarily heavy) sarcophagi. They were thought to become immortal as Osiris-Apis; over time, the name evolved to Userhapi ("Osorapis" in Greek) and was later associated with the Ptolemaic god, Serapis, resulting in the name of the site. The Serapeum, first used in the New Kingdom (1550–1077 BC), has a niche for each sacred bull; chapels and smaller temples would have been built aboveground.