Djoser Traditional Cache
captphil: Time to dismiss peacefully..
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Small community park. Just a short walk from parking. A well camo'd
cache in a typical location. Please return carefully like you found
it. BYOP.
This cache was placed as part of THE NCOG SPHINX SPRING SPREE! a
road rally event on May 7, 2011.
The Pyramid of Djoser (Zoser), or step pyramid, is an archeological
remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of
Memphis. It was built for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by his
vizier Imhotep, during the 27th century BC. It is the central
feature of a vast mortuary complex in an enormous courtyard
surrounded by ceremonial structures and decoration.
This first Egyptian pyramid consisted of six mastabas (of
decreasing size) built atop one another in what were clearly
revisions and developments of the original plan. The pyramid
originally stood 62 metres (203 ft) tall, with a base of 109 × 125
m (358 × 410 ft) and was clad in polished white limestone. The step
pyramid (or proto-pyramid) is considered to be the earliest
large-scale cut stone construction.
Under the step pyramid is a labyrinth of tunneled chambers and
galleries that total nearly 6 km in length and connect to a central
shaft 7m square and 28m deep. These spaces provide room for the
king’s burial, the burial of family members, and the storage
of goods and offerings. The entrance to the 28m shaft was built on
the north side of the pyramid, a trend that would remain throughout
the Old Kingdom. The sides of the underground passages are
limestone inlaid with blue faience tile to replicate reed matting.
These “palace façade” walls are further decorated by
panels decorated in low relief that show the king participating in
the Heb-sed. Together these chambers constitute the funerary
apartment that mimicked the palace and would serve as the living
place of the royal ka. On the east side of the pyramid eleven
shafts 32m deep were constructed and annexed to horizontal tunnels
for the royal harem. These were incorporated into the preexisting
substructure as it expanded eastward. In the storerooms along here
over 40,000 stone vessels were found, many of which predate Djoser.
These would have served Djoser’s visceral needs in the
afterlife. An extensive network of underground galleries was
located to the north, west and south of the central burial chamber
and crude horizontal magazines were carved into these.
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Treasures
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