In this weekend course we will enjoy an in-depth exploration of one of Egypt’s most significant ancient sites – Saqqara, the necropolis of Egypt’s ancient capital Memphis. We will examine the architecture, reliefs, inscriptions, statuary and funerary equipment of the extraordinary tombs of pharaohs, nobles and sacred animals, dating from the Early Dynastic Period through to the Ptolemaic Period. We will consider the mastaba tombs of some of Egypt’s earliest pharaohs and statesmen; the oldest large-scale stone monument in the world – the step pyramid complex of the 3rd dynasty pharaoh Djoser; the 5th dynasty pyramid of Unas with the earliest Egyptian theological writings (‘Pyramid Texts’) inscribed on its walls; the other fascinating mastabas and pyramids of both North and South Saqqara; the elaborately decorated ‘temple tombs’ of the New Kingdom, including those of Tutankhamun’s treasurer Maya and general, Horemheb; and the Apis bull burials of the Serapeum, and other scared animal catacombs, particularly popular at the end of pharaonic history.