Les Pyramides de Sakkara / The Pyramids of Sakkara

Around 2700 BC, Neteri-khet, the first pharaoh of the Third Dynasty of Egypt-better known today as Djoser-sited his funerary complex at the heart of the Sakkara necropolis. Kings before him had already made Sakkara a place of veneration over the four centuries preceding his reign, and later kings followed Djoser’s example. Surrounded by the later pyramids of Sekhem-khet, Userkaf, Unis, and Teti, Djoser’s famous Step Pyramid is still the tallest construction at Sakkara. The French architect Jean-Philippe Lauer devoted seventy-five of his hundred years to Sakkara, as a permanent employee of the Service des Antiquites d'Egypte and honorary research director of the CNRS, working on the reconstruction of the Djoser complex. In 2015, this seventh edition of The Pyramids of Sakkara, re-issued with new illustrations by the Institut francais d'archeologie orientale, bears faithful witness to Jean-Philippe Lauer’s work. Its informative, succinct text and numerous illustrations provide an immersive experience of the site and give a clear account of the fascinating story of the discovery and long restoration of the Djoser complex.