Zoser's necropolis

This was just a phase in the evolution of the pyramid.The name"stepped pyramid"itself is self explainatory. Sakkarah is a very important ancient site in Egypt. The necropolis of Sakkarah was the largest in all of Egypt and of historical significance because all of the principal dynasties of Egypt are represented here. Its name was derived from the Egyptian god Sokar.
The most prominent ancient ruin at Sakkarah is the step pyramid of Zoser, the pharaoh who founded the IIIrd dynasty. Surrounding it are other pyramids and mastabas that are characteristic of the eras. Mastabas, the Arabic word for bench, were the burial chambers of the nobility and its court dignitaries. They were rectangular with slightly inclined walls. Zoser was the first pharaoh to envision a more grandiose burial complex. He commissioned the architect Imhotep to design and build his funerary complex. Imhotep's name can be found in the hieroglyphic characters on the base of a statue representing Zoser. Thus Zoser's was the first funerary structure to appear in the world. Imhotep was also a High Priest and doctor and a man of much genius. The Greeks, two thousand years later, named a god, Esculaphus, after him. Looking at the pyramid one can see what Imhotep did. He built a large rectangular mastaba and on it he placed five successively smaller mastabas to form the pyramid.
Surrounding Zoser's step pyramid are a number of other funerary structures from different periods. .