Definition: Saqqara was the main cemetery of the Egyptian pharaohs at Memphis. It was located on the western plateau, 40 km south of Cairo. Pharaohs from as early as the first dynasty (e.g., Pepy I) used Saqqara for their necropolis. The Third Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser's Step Pyramid was built at Saqqara. Use of the Saqqara necropolis continued until the 5th century A.D. By the Ptolemaic era, Saqqara had become a sacred animal necropolis.
Source: Violaine Chauvet "Saqqara" The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt. Ed. Donald B. Redford, Oxford University Press, Inc.
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