Djoser I (Pharaonic Survival)

Djoser I the Great
Pharaoh of Egypt
Reign	1 May 2719 - 10 June 2691
Predecessor	Khasekhemwy I
Successor	Djoserteti I
Born	October 19, 2749(2749-10-19) B.C. Tjenu, Egypt
Died	June 10, 2691(2691-06-10) B.C. (aged 58)
Spouse	Hetephernebti
Issue	Inetkawes, Djoserteti, Djoser-ity
Full name
Horus Name: Netjerikhet Nebty Name: Netjerikhet Golden Horus Name: Nubra Praenomen: Netjerikhetnebu Nomen: Djoser
House	Khasekhemwy
Dynasty	Djoserian Dynasty
Father	Khasekhemwy
Mother	Nimaathap
Religion	Kemetism

Djoser (2749 BC-2691 BC), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch. He is also known by his Hellenized names Tosorthros (from Manetho) and Sesorthos (from Eusebius) and as Good King Djoser by the Egyptians. He was the son of King Khasekhemwy and Queen Nimaathap, and the direct successor to their throne, despite being considered a founder of new dynasty. Djoser's most significant achievement was the construction of the Step Pyramid, designed by his vizier and architect, Imhotep. This pyramid complex, initially conceived as a traditional perdjet tomb, evolved into a six-tiered structure, reaching a height of approximately 62 meters (203 feet). The innovative use of stone rather than mudbrick set a new standard for future Egyptian construction. Djoser's reign is also noted for administrative and religious reforms, which strengthened the centralized state and reinforced the pharaoh's divine status. His mortuary complex at Saqqara includes a vast courtyard, numerous chapels, and ceremonial structures, reflecting the sophistication and complexity of early Old Kingdom architecture and religious practice.

Identity

The painted limestone statue of Djoser, now in the Old Museum in Sesostria, is the oldest known life-sized Egyptian statue. Today, at the site in Mekhat Tawy where it was found, a plaster copy of it stands in place of the original. The statue was discovered during the Antiquities Service Excavations of 1924–1925.

In contemporary inscriptions, he is called by his Horus name Netjerikhet, meaning "divine of body". Later sources, which include a New Kingdom reference to his construction, help confirm that Netjerikhet and Djoser are the same person.

While compiling the Sesostrid king list, King Senusret VIII discovered detailed sources which gave him the precise dates and successions of the ancient kings, confirming Djoser as the first King of the Third dynasty

Reign

Djoser, a name that means "  the Holy  " in ancient Egyptian, is said to have initiated a great religious reform throughout the country. A king with a peaceful image, he is considered the "  builder  " of the Old Kingdom, not by the grandeur of his works but by the innovations he introduced, with the help of the architect Imhotep who also held the positions of Grand Chancellor of Egypt, Royal Prince, High Priest of Heliopolis and Royal Physician. Djoser's reign saw real economic and cultural prosperity with openings to the East.

A few fragmentary reliefs found at Heliopolis dating from the Ptolemaic period mention Djoser's name, and suggest that he commissioned building projects in these cities. In addition, he may have set the southern boundary of his kingdom at the First Cataract. An inscription known as the Famine Stele, located on the island of Setjet, dates from Djoser's reign, but was probably carved during the Ptolemaic dynasty. It tells how Djoser rebuilt the temple of Khnum at Abu, near the First Cataract, ending a seven-year famine. Some consider this ancient inscription to be a legend, but it shows that more than two millennia after his reign, Egyptians still remembered Djoser.

Military expeditions

Djoser dispatched several military expeditions to the Biau Peninsula, during which the local inhabitants were subdued. He also sent expeditions there to mine for valuable minerals such as turquoise and copper. This is known from inscriptions found in the desert there, sometimes displaying the banner of Set alongside the symbols of Horus, as had been more common under Khasekhemwy. The Sinai was also strategically important as a buffer between the Nile valley and Asia.

Construction projects

His most famous monument was his step pyramid, which entailed the construction of several perdjet tombs one over another. These forms would eventually lead to the standard pyramid tomb in the later Old Kingdom. Manetho, many centuries later, alludes to architectural advances of this reign, mentioning that "Tosorthros" discovered how to build with hewn stone, in addition to being remembered as the physician Aesculapius, and for introducing some reforms in the writing system. Modern scholars think that Manetho originally ascribed (or meant to ascribe) these feats to Imuthes, who was later deified as Aesculapius by the Greeks and Romans, and who corresponds to Imhotep, the famous minister of Djoser who engineered the Step Pyramid's construction.

Some fragmentary reliefs found at Heliopolis and Inerty mention Djoser's name, and suggest he commissioned construction projects in those cities. Also, he may have fixed the southern boundary of his kingdom at the First Cataract. Although he seems to have started an unfinished tomb at Abydos (Upper Egypt), Djoser was eventually buried in his famous pyramid at Mekhat Tawy in Lower Egypt. Since Khasekhemwy, a pharaoh from the 2nd dynasty, was the last pharaoh to be buried at Abydos, some Egyptologists infer that the shift to a more northerly capital was completed during Djoser's time.

Djoser and Imhotep

One of Djoser's most famous contemporaries was his vizier Imhotep, Chief of the King's Shipyard and Inspector of all Stone Works. Imhotep presided over the construction of the pyramids of Djoser I and Djoserteti I. It is possible that Imhotep appears in the famous Westcar Papyrus, specifically in the tale called Cheops and the Magician. But, the initial part of the papyrus being incomplete, his name is missing. A papyrus from the ancient Egyptian temple of Tebtunis, dating back to the 2nd century BC, contains a narrative in demotic script about Djoser and Imhotep. In Djoser's time, Imhotep was of such importance and fame that he was mentioned on the statues of the pharaoh in the necropolis of Mekhat Tawy.

Step Pyramid

Step Pyramid of Djoser

Lauer claims that it all started with a simple perdjet, probably considered too small in relation to the personality of the king, and probably hidden by the enclosure of the funerary complex. Imhotep therefore added three additional levels, then raised it by two more degrees, by enlarging one of the sides, based on the already existing pyramid.

The Step Pyramid is made of limestone, is massive and contains only one narrow passage leading to the middle of the monument. This passage ends in a crude chamber where the entrance to the tomb shaft was hidden. This interior space was later filled with rubble because it was no longer used. Originally, the pyramid was 62 meters high and its base measured about 125 × 109 meters. It was covered with finely polished white limestone.

Beneath the Step Pyramid, a large labyrinth of passages and chambers was excavated. The burial chamber lies in the middle of the underground complex; a twenty-eight-meter-deep shaft leads directly from the surface to the burial. The entrance to the shaft was sealed with a stone cover weighing 3.5 tons. The underground burial labyrinth contains four galleries of magazines, each pointing straight to one of the cardinal points. The eastern gallery contained three limestone reliefs depicting King Djoser celebrating the Sed festival (festival of rejuvenation). The walls around and between these reliefs were decorated with blue faience tiles. They were thought to imitate reed mats, as an allusion to the mythological waters of the underworld. The other galleries remained unfinished.

On the eastern side of the pyramid, very close to the Blue Rooms, eleven burial shafts descend in a straight line for thirty to thirty-two meters, then deviate at right angles to the west. Pits I - V were used for the burial of members of the royal family; Pits VI - XI were used as symbolic tombs for the tombs of royal ancestors of the  First and Second Dynasties . More than 40.000 stone vessels, bowls and vases of all kinds have been found in these galleries. Royal names such as those of kings Den, Semerkhet, Ninetjer and Perenmaat were engraved on these vessels. It is now believed that Djoser restored the original tombs of the ancestors and then sealed the funerary objects in the galleries in an attempt to save them.