“The Step Pyramid At Saqqara”

The Dahshur pyramid complex — The most famous pyramids in Egypt are, of course, those in Giza, to the north of Saqqara. But there are also very large pyramids to the south. On the left, in this view from Saqqara of the complex at Dahshur, is the so-called “Bent Pyramid.” On the right is the “Red Pyramid.” And the small structure in front of the “Bent Pyramid” is the pyramid of Pepi II. (Wikimedia Commons public domain)

One of the places we’ll visit on our Egypt tour in May — and one of my favorite places in Egypt altogether — is the pyramid complex at Saqqara, to the south of Cairo and of the more famous pyramid complex at Giza.

I love Saqqara for many reasons. One of them has nothing to do with the pyramids there at all: It’s about as clear a place as I know for tourists to see the stark difference between the lush green of the Nile Valley, on the one hand, and, on the other, the Sahara Desert that stretches from the western edge of that valley all the way, essentially, to the Atlantic Ocean. The vegetation doesn’t gradually taper off at Saqqara. It ends abruptly. Palm trees and grass suddenly become sand. The contrast beautifully illustrates Herodotus’s famous declaration that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.”

Here’s a nice little item that you might enjoy about Saqqara:

Step Pyramid at Saqqara

“The Step Pyramid at Saqqara”