Pyramid of Zoser
Pyramid of Djoser

The step pyramid of Zoser at Saqqara.

Smaller than Giza’s pyramids, the Pyramids of Saqqara (30km south of Cairo; £5) still pack a hefty historical punch: the Step Pyramid of Zoser is the oldest freestanding building in the world.

You can't go straight from these megaliths to the pyramid of Djoser.

Saqqara has numerous pyramids, including the world famous Pyramid of Djoser.

The pyramid was built close to the pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara.

The step pyramid of Djoser is a series of stone mastabas stacked on top of each other.

Pyramid of Djoser was constructed in Egypt.

The work on the pyramid of Djoser is dated to year 36 of Ramesses II.

Saqqara is the site of the first Egyptian pyramid, the Pyramid of Djoser.

Designed by Aleksey Shchusev, it utilizes elements borrowed from the Pyramid of Djoser.

The mastaba of Merefnebef is located to the west of the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

Isesi-ankh was buried in mastaba D8, north of the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara.

(Saqqara holds a vast burial ground for the ancient capital Memphis and is home to the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser.)

For example, a number of stone vessels of the rulers of the first two dynasties were placed in rooms under the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

People even entered ancient monuments, such as the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, and skillfully copied ancient reliefs.

Saqqara is also the location of the incomplete step pyramid of Djoser's successor Sekhemkhet, known as the Buried Pyramid.

The mausoleum itself was modeled by Aleksey Shchusev on the Pyramid of Djoser and the Tomb of Cyrus.

In the Pyramid of Djoser there are two boundary stones in his Heb Sed court, which is within his pyramid complex.

The egyptologist Wolfgang Helck proposed another hypothesis; namely, that Sanakht's tomb is an unfinished structure west of the pyramid of Djoser.

Well-known examples are the Pyramid of Djoser designed by ancient architect and engineer Imhotep, the Sphinx, and the temple of Abu Simbel.

The Serapeum of Saqqara is a serapeum located north west of the Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara, a necropolis near Memphis.

A somewhat similar style has since been uncovered in the underground galleries under the contemporary Pyramid of Djoser, in which the Pharaoh is depicted running in the Sed festival.

However something does not match in this pattern: no pyramid aligned with the Step Pyramid of Djoser, by far the most important and revered pyramid at Saqqara,"Magli said.

His mastaba (named "Saqqara C8") was discovered by Auguste Mariette in the Saqqara necropolis, just north of the Step Pyramid of Djoser.

The result was the Step Pyramid of Djoser which was designed to serve as a gigantic stairway by which the soul of the deceased pharaoh could ascend to the heavens.

Ka-Nefer-Nefer was discovered in 1952 by Mohammed Zakaria Goneim in a tomb buried above the Step Pyramid of Djoser in the Saqqara necropolis.

Follow NBC News Chief Foreign Correspondent Richard Engel to Egypt, where he journeys through a network of underground tunnels beneath the Step Pyramid of Djoser.