Saqqara

The drive out to Saqqara took us away from Cairo through tree-lined roads that cut a way through fields of crops and small villagey areas. We passed the pyramids of Abusir, a couple of dry petrol stations and a rash of carpet schools before arriving at the entrance to the Saqqara complex, a huge sprawling area dominated by the marvellous step pyramid of the Pharoah Djoser.

This style, maybe even this pyramid, was the beginning of the trend for burying bigwigs in large geometric structures. From mounds of sand the Ancient Egyptians progressed to square, flat-topped mastabas before someone decided to park six mastabas of decreasing size on top of each other. Mind how you pronounce this, as someone who I shan't name found my pronunciation cause for much sniggering. I loved the Step Pyramid, its chunky lines and deep textures, the sand piled up on each step. There was quite a bit of restoration work going on, but we happily wandered around the 'no entry' side and watched the work and found some statues visible through a hole in a wall.

Teti's pyramid looked like an old heap of rubble, but the interior was amazing. A low-ceilinged flight of steep steps took us into the middle chamber of three. The walls were covered in heiroglyphics, row upon row from floor to ceiling. Crawling through an opening, we entered the most amazing room containing a huge stone sarcophagus. Massive ceiling slabs were hung above, some of them seemingly in defiance of gravity - something best not pondered on, especially in conjunction with the obvious evidence that above ground the whole pyramid has completely disintegrated. These slabs were engraved all over with large five-pointed stars, very like starfish, pale against the dark surface of the stone. Again, the walls were carved with heiroglyphs, a repeating pattern of symbols and Teti's name in a cartouche. The person in charge quickly invited us to ignore the No Photography rule - with his hand out, of course.

Mereruka's tomb was stunning. It was a whole complex of rooms with wings for his wife and children. We walked through room after room, each one decorated with fabulous paintings. Again, the mind boggled with the amount of work that went into creating such a place. There were pictures of people working, carrying crops, handling animals - including an experiment in hyena husbandry, Mereruka himself relaxing on his bed while his wife played a harp, children playing games and pulling off some artistic acrobatic balances. And more... and more. As with the rest of the site, it wasn't clear what was original and what had been restored, but I think many of these carved pictures have been repainted, especially as this building has been opened to the light with some holes in the ceiling. There was a statue of Mereruka with an offering altar in at his feet and a huge stone ring sunk into the floor for tethering sacrificial animals. A shaft led down to a burial chamber far below and so I get the impression that this was more of a temple at ground level, in use after Mereruka's death.

I loved the whole site at Saqqara, its huge peaceful space. The step pyramid was more impressive than I'd expected, quite a stunner, but it was the underground chambers of Teti's pyramid that blew me away, or would have done if the guide had butted out long enough for me to zone out and travel back a few thousand years in peace. And the paintings in Mereruka's tomb. This place is amazing - and that's coming from one who gets historied-out fairly easily.

Saqqara - it's not just a beer