Where’s that?
1- It is situated on the east side of the open court and surrounded by a small enclosure wall .
2- The enterence lies in the southern side .
3- The exact function of this building is uncertain.
4- However, it has been suggested that building have been used by the king as a-resting place or a place of changing his clothes during the different episodes of the Heb Sed Festival .
The Heb Sed Or Jubilee Festi
1- During the 25th or 30th year of a pharaohs reign the cermony of Heb Sed took place and was to all extends and purposes .
2- A Jubilee when the sovereignty of the ruler was again recognised and confirmed , the cermony which began during the 1st dynasty is frequently portrayed in wall paintings and it has therefore been possible to reconstructed the event .
3- It was celebrated on the first day of all the month ( Tybi) during the season when crops were sown and was originally held in a series of structures made of leaves and papyrus and lotus shoots .
4- The pharaoh , Djoser decided that the event should be more important and had stone and therefore permanent building made to accommodate it .
5- The festival began with a great procession lead by a high priest and was celebrated in the various chapels situated around the courtyard.
6- Once the gods had given their consent to the pharaohs spiritual suitability .
7- He had been to demonstrate his physical suitability by undergoing tests that could vary from one sovereign to another .
8- The test may have been a bull fight or shooting arrows to the 4 Cardinal points but the most common was a race running a long a course indicated on the ground of the court around the house of the north and the house of south .
At the end of the Race
The pharaoh was crowned for a second time with the white and the red crown of the 2 kingdoms
The Hep Sed
1- It is situated on the eastern side of the complex .
2- It consists of a court with a row of dummy chapels on its eastern and western sides .
3- There are 14 chapels on the east side and 13 on the west side .
4- The faced of the west dummy chapels are decorated by 3 fluted engaged columns , these columns support the curved roofs .
5- The columns are unique because their capitals have the shape of the pendentive leaves .
6- Near the top of each columns are 2 holes , perhaps intended for holding the emblems .
7- In front of each chapel there is a court with an imitation of an open door .
8- There is also anich sunk in the faced of each chapel perhaps contained statues .
9- The east dummy chapels their faced are plain and are decorated at the top by the Egyptian cornich .
The coronation Platform
1- It is situated in the Hep sed court .
2- It is a square platform built by limestone approached with 2 flight of steps in the east side.
3- This platform used to set a tent on it for crowing, the king once as king of upper Egypt and once as king of lower Egypt .
11- The 3 statues
In the south east Corner of the Hep Sed court , There are 3 statues made of limestones.
1- The first one belongs to god Ptah ( god of Memphis )
2- The second one perhaps for king Zoser.
3- The features of the third one is damaged and difficult to recognise to whom this statue belongs .
12- the 4 pairs of feet
1- To the north west side of the Hep Sed court .
2- There are 4 pairs of feet made of limestones .
3- It should be noted that there are 2 pairs larger than the other 2 pairs .
4- These 4 pairs are the remains of 4 statues represent the king Zoser , his wife and his 2 daughters .
House of the North and south
1- To the east side of the step pyramid lies the 2 building of the south and north house .
2- They are built by local limestone and dressed with Tura limestone .
3- The faced of the north and south house are decorated very similar to the west dummy chapels of the Hep Sed court .
4- The enterance of each house lies in the south side.
5- In front of each house there was an open court with enclosure wall .
6- on the east side of the north court there are 3 engaged papyrus columns .
7- while in the east side of the south court , there are 3 engaged lotus columns .
8- the function of these 2 buildings are not certain .
9- They are perhaps represent the sanctuaries of upper Egypt and lower Egypt
Hierakonopolis Buto
Which were the major 2 religious Sanctuaries in the ancient Egyptian history .
The Serdab
1- It is a small room attached to the lowest step of the pyramid .
2- The Serdab is situated to the north of the step pyramid and to the east of the mortuary temple.
3- The Serdab contains now a cast of limestone statue of king Zoser and the original statues is now in Cairo Museum .
4- There are 2 round holes in the front wall of the Serdab to allow the king to look to his spirit which is as a star in the north side of the sky .
The Mortuary Temple
1- It is situated in the north of the step pyramid and it has a rectangular shape .
2- Its enterence is situated to the east side and it has an imitation of an open door .
3- The enterance leads to a narrow passage terminated by 2 courts .
4- In the north west side corner of each court there is a room with a stone basin sunk in the floor , they were used for Purification purpose.
5- At the back of each court there are 2 pairs of engaged columns forming 3 gang ways in each court .
6- The 6 gang ways lead to a wide gallery .
The back wall of it has 2 chapels are sunk in the lowest step of the pyramid forming the sanctuary of the temple may contained 2 statues of the king one in each chapels as the king of upper and lower Egypt.
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