Day 23 - Saturday, April 27 - Egypt Saqqara and Pyramids

Also today, in Saqqara, we heard a lot about Pharaoh Djoser. History shows that he was one of the earlier Pharaohs, the second king of the third dynasty, and the very first to ever have a pyramid built. It is even called the oldest surviving structure in the world, and was stepped, according to then new techniques designed by Imhotep, who devised to stack several "Mastaba" on top of each other. Later, more, smaller, pyramids were built for and by him in different places in Egypt. 

The ancient thought was that pyramids were meant for the afterlife, which they were totally focused on, so a kind of tomb, with their mummy and all the valuables and tools they thought they needed. 

But, were the Pharaohs so stupid that they didn't know that if a pyramid contained great treasures, that they could easily be recognized as such and thus quickly robbed? It turns out that just very few (parts of) mummies were ever found in a pyramid, and there are some 120 in all of Egypt. 

Could the mummies have been looted? Also not logical, robbers were not interested in that, only in treasures. So today they assume that the pyramids mainly served other purposes, such as honor and displaying your importance. 

But in the case of Pharaoh Djoser, near that six-step pyramid, a very large grain store was found. Giant silos have also been discovered in other parts of Egypt, all dating back to that period. These silos can be 5-10 meters wide and 15-20 meters deep. 

And a structure that was first thought to be a temple, but was built in Syrian rather than Egyptian style, and has 28 smaller rooms located on either side of the center aisle. 28 is also the number of larger cities or areas or conglomerations of the time. 

Therefore, it is now believed that it was more likely to have been an administrative center. One opinion is that if you add this together, plus the knowledge that an inscription has been found near Aswan that talks about 7 years of famine, during which each conglomeration had to apply to receive grain to survive the famine, then according to that opinion, the pharaoh from the time of Joseph was this Djoser.

And a function of this first pyramid may have been that it was a clearly visible and unique clue to make the administrative center for grain distribution visible at a far distance and therefore easy to find. 

This means that this extended area of Saqqara may also have been the place where Joseph later met his brothers again. 

Which Pharaoh at the time of Moses? Still unknown. At least not the most frequently mentioned, Ramses the second, because he ruled very prosperously and for more than 50 years, while before and after the Exodus the land was largely destroyed and took a lot of time to recover from the 10 plagues. Plus, the mummy of Rameses was found, while the Pharaoh of Moses' time perished in the Red Sea (Psalm 136:15). Also, "all the men who were seeking to kill you [40 years before] are dead" (Exodus 4:19) apparently including the pharaoh of 40 years ago.

The (wrong) reason why Rameses is so often mentioned regarding the Exodus is that Genesis 47:11 talks about "the land of Rameses" as if that name already existed then. But this happens more often in the Bible, that writers or later copyists use the name that is recognizable and known at the time, but had a different name at the time it took place. For example, in Genesis 14:14 a certain city is called Dan, but that city was called Lachish at that time and was not named Dan until much later, according to Judges 18:19. 

After Saqqara to the pyramids, with the Sphinks and a camel ride on a dromedary. Nice conclusion to our whole trip, because early tomorrow morning we will go to the airport in Cairo to fly back to the Netherlands to enjoy this very well turned out and very special trip for a very long time and to be able to tell many more stories about it than what is summarized very briefly on this website.

Videos:
(1) Saqqara is not just the very first (stepped) pyramid, but an entire complex, with a large grain silo, an administrative center and many other buildings, all very plausibly from the time of Joseph according to Genesis 41:46-49 from the Bible. (2) Walk-through of the administrative building with 14 rooms on either side, 28 in all. (3) A Mastaba is an ancient Egyptian tomb, flat, rectangular, with sloping sides, above ground with an underground burial chamber. Imhotep's new invention was to place the Mastaba structure on top of each other, and thus the first pyramid was created. (4) Here you can see the fertile part of Upper Egypt, which apparently was also visited by foreigners looking for food in Joseph's time. (5) Pyramids and Sphinx. (6) Camels, which are actually dromedaries.

Photos:
(1) The first pyramid and the oldest surviving structure in the world. (2-3) The grain silo from the time of Joseph as part of the Saqqara complex, deep and large. Many more have been found at other sites in Egypt, from the same time period. (4) The pyramid of Giza, at 147 meters the tallest in the world. (5) Karin next to the pyramid, for comparison, go to day 10 on April 14, the first video, then you will see Karin there next to the stones of the western temple wall, they are even a bit bigger. Only the big stones at the main entrance of the pyramid are another class bigger. (6) Here at the bottom you can see how the whole pyramid was originally covered with these stones. (7) Greetings from Ron & Karin from the dromedary. (8-9) The Sphinks before the great pyramid.