Saqqara vs. Giza: The Evolution of Egypt’s Pyramid Powerhouses
The Pyramid Puzzle and Why We Know So Little
What if I told you that the legendary pyramids of Giza—the ones that have fascinated historians, conspiracy theorists, and adventurers alike—weren’t the first of their kind? Would you be surprised?
A Google search for "pyramids" returns hundreds of millions of results and the number of websites into the millions, covering topics from history and archaeology to conspiracy theories and travel guides. Yet, the public understanding of these fantastic monuments remains minimal. Most people recognise the Egyptian pyramids as one of humanity's most outstanding architectural achievements, but their understanding is often tainted with a confusing mix of phoney mysticism, made-up rubbish posing as fact, and Hollywood exaggerations.
The trouble is that for much of its history, Egyptology has been dominated by a positivist, materialist approach, treating ancient Egyptian culture as a collection of artefacts to be catalogued and analysed rather than as one of the world’s most remarkable cultures. The why behind Egyptian civilization, its religious beliefs, rituals, and symbolic worldview have often been dismissed as secondary to the what (objects, dates, and architectural techniques).
Despite rigorous academic efforts to reconstruct Egypt’s past, the civilization remains a land of riddles in the popular imagination. Much of this is due to the rise of esoteric thinkers, New Age writers, and so-called Alternative Archaeologists, who desire personal meaning, mystical wisdom, and cosmic connection rather than scholarly rigour. As discussed earlier, the New Age movement tends to reject the idea of an objective, empirical past in favour of an intuitive, constructed history that prioritises feeling over evidence.
This debate isn’t just about academic disagreements—it’s about how history itself is constructed and understood. New Age and esoteric thinkers approach history as a search for harmony, meaning, and interconnectedness, emphasising inclusion, mystery, and spirituality, valuing personal experiences rather than a strict, objective reality. Whereas the academics drone on about ‘the ontological turn,’ a shift in perspective that challenges older, strictly materialist interpretations of ancient Egyptian culture that seeks to rethink how we conceptualise the past, acknowledging that the worldview of ancient peoples was fundamentally different from our modern Western frameworks. In many ways, this shift is an attempt to bridge the very gap that has long existed between mainstream Egyptology and alternative, esoteric approaches to history and at first glance, this might seem like a convergence of two opposing perspectives—the empirical and the spiritual—but there remain fundamental differences between Egyptology’s ontological turn and the New Age approach to history. While both aim to reassess how we interpret Egypt’s past, they do so in very different ways.
As it stands, Egyptology remains entrenched in its empirical foundations, while alternative thinkers continue to explore the mysteries mainstream scholars avoid. This leaves the public caught between two competing narratives:
The academic version, which offers rigorous analysis but often lacks intrigue.
The alternative version, which embraces mystery but sometimes strays into fantasy.
Both perspectives have their strengths and weaknesses. Egyptologists risk alienating the public by refusing to engage with the more imaginative elements of Egypt’s past, while alternative historians risk distorting history to fit a more compelling narrative.
Ultimately, the story of ancient Egypt belongs to everyone. The question is not just who tells it but how it is told—and whether there is room for a more balanced approach that respects facts and wonder.
Here Are Some Common Misconceptions
❌ Slaves built the pyramids. Evidence suggests skilled labourers, not slaves, built them.
❌ Aliens helped build them. There is no evidence for extraterrestrial involvement.
❌ They are perfectly aligned with Orion’s Belt. The alignment is close but not exact and may or may not be intentional.
❌ There are secret tunnels leading to hidden treasures. While voids exist, no hidden treasure chambers have been confirmed.
Movies like The Mummy and shows like Ancient Aliens are great fun, but they add fuel to the bonfire of rubbish being written, including:
Pyramids have mystical powers, or the power to sharpen razor blades,
Pharaohs’ curses bring bad luck (like King Tut’s Curse, which is more folklore than fact), and
The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx have secret underground rooms filled either with sacred scrolls being kept secret by weird esoteric sects or filled with booby traps and zombies.
So, it's no surprise that many people think the Pyramids of Giza are the only pyramids in Egypt and are full of mysterious stuff.
In reality, there are over 100 pyramids spread across the country, including the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the first pyramid ever built in the world. The last pyramid built in ancient Egypt is generally believed to be the Pyramid of Ahmose, constructed during the 17th Dynasty (circa 1550 BCE) at Abydos. This was at the end of Egypt’s MiEgypt'sngdom (c. 2050–1650 BCE) when pharaohs continued building pyramids, but they were smaller, less durable, and made of mudbrick instead of solid stone like their Old Kingdom predecessors.
So, to gain a new understanding of ancient Egypt, we’ll begin by learning about two of the most famous Old Kingdom pyramids: Djoser’s pyramid at Saqqara and Khufu's at Giza.
Let’s step back in time to see what happened.
Saqqara: The Pyramid Blueprint
If Giza is the masterpiece, Saqqara is the rough sketch—a bold and unprecedented leap forward in construction and ideology. Before Saqqara, Egypt’s royalEgypt'ss were mastabas—flat-roofed, rectangular tombs made of mudbrick. Then came Pharaoh Djoser, a king with a vision for something greater. Under the guidance of his brilliant architect, Imhotep, he transformed the humble mastaba into something the world had never seen: a stepped, multi-tiered monument reaching toward the sky.
🔹 Key Features of the Step Pyramid:
A Stairway to the Gods:
The pyramid symbolised the pharaoh’s ascpharaoh'se afterlife with its layered design.
A Labyrinth Below:
Beneath the pyramid lay a vast network of tunnels, possibly representing an underground journey of rebirth.
A Grand Experiment:
The Step Pyramid was not just a tomb; it was a bold engineering test, a first draft of an idea that would later be perfected.
The Step Pyramid broke the mould—but it was still a work in progress. The question remained: Could this concept be refined into something even more monumental?
Giza: A Revolution in Pyramids
Enter the Fourth Dynasty and Pharaoh Sneferu, the Steve Jobs of pyramid-building. Sneferu and his architects redefined pyramid construction, shifting from stepped forms to smooth, true pyramids. His Red Pyramid at Dahshur became the first successful “true” pyramid”, setting the stage for the most incredible pyramid of them all: Khufu’s Great Pyramid of Giza.
🔹 Why Giza’s Pyramid is a Game-Changer:
Perfection in Geometry:
Unlike Saqqara’s step design, Giza’s smooth, angled sides demanded a more sophisticated engineering process.
Precision & Alignment:
The Great Pyramid of Khufu is aligned with incredible accuracy to the cardinal points, demonstrating a deep understanding of astronomy and greater mathematical and technical skills in design, construction, logistics and construction.
Size & Scale:
The Great Pyramid originally stood at 146.6 meters (481 feet), a height unmatched by any pyramid before or after. Khufu’s pyramid was a man-made mountain of stone that stood higher than any other building on Earth until the Middle Ages.
Material Mastery:
While the Saqqara Pyramid was primarily made of small limestone blocks and mudbrick, the Great Pyramid used massive stone blocks, some weighing up to 70 tons, transported from quarries miles away. The King’s Chamber was finished with the finest red granite covering, and the pyramid's exterior was dressed with smooth white limestone slabs.
Giza was a revolution. The architects had perfected their craft. No longer a rough draft, the pyramid had become a technological marvel, a celestial monument, and a pharaonic power statement. It was such a marvel, its like would never be seen again. Although there are over 100 pyramids in Egypt, none is so big or complex.
Building the Impossible: Engineering Marvels vs. Ancient Mysteries
So, how did the Egyptians manage to pull off these incredible feats of construction? the truth is we don’t really know, but there are lots of theories vying for poll position in the credibility stakes; none include levitating stones with magnets or water or using aliens or slaves.
Theories about Pyramid Building:
The Ramp Theory – Most scholars believe massive ramps were used to drag the blocks up the pyramid’s sides.
Spiral Ramp Theory – Some suggest that hidden internal ramps allow workers to transport blocks without external scaffolding.
Water & Sound Technology? – Fringe theorists speculate about lost technologies, including the possibility that acoustic levitation or even water transport systems played a role.
Regardless of how they did it, one fact remains: The leap from Saqqara to Giza is nothing short of astonishing.
Symbolism: More Than Just Tombs?
While both Saqqara and Giza were built as royal tombs, there’s more than meets the eye. These pyramids weren’t just tombs; they were statements of belief.
The Step Pyramid was an early vision of a “stairway to heaven” and was designed to aid the king on his journey to the gods who lived in the sky. The underground labyrinth beneath the pyramid was his final earthly resting place, his spirit palace where he would receive the material offerings from his people to maintain him in his cosmic quest to maintain the cosmic cycles and redress the fracture in time caused by Thoth when he created the five epagmenal days, changing the year from a perfect 360 days to 365 days.
The pyramid of Khufu is aligned with Heliopolis to the east, connecting it with the rising sun and the sun god Ra. The pyramid’s shape resembles the benben stone, a sacred object representing the world emerging from the Nun at the beginning of creation and, therefore, the renewal of perfect, 360-day time.
Alternative and New Age writers, aka pyramidologists, who are not Egyptologists or historians, suggest that these pyramids were not just tombs but energy centres, constructions that could tap into the Earth’s magnetic field to produce electricity. Although most ancient Egyptians would never have seen a light bulb, they are convinced the elite had them, and they are sure a large power generator would be required to light their hidden bulbs. Have you seen the size of them?
The so-called Dendera Light Bulb theory was first proposed in the 20th century by Erich von Däniken, a Swiss author famous for his ancient astronaut theories and other alternative history enthusiasts. Peter Krassa & Reinhard Habeck (1992) further popularised the idea in Das Licht der Pharaonen (The Light of the Pharaohs), where they suggested that Egyptians used an electric lamp powered by a Baghdad Battery-like device. (1)
One thing is clear: the Egyptians weren’t just building structures—they were crafting monuments designed to last for eternity and whose purpose was to aid the dead king’s journey to the Duat, a metaphysical realm where both the dead and the gods were believed to live and from which the fabric of the cosmos and the cosmic cycles could be maintained and prevented from further degradation. (see Chapter One, Part 1 of Exploring Sacred Numbers in Ancient Egypt by Julia and Martin Herdman on this Substack.)
Conclusion: The Pyramid Legacy
Without Saqqara’s bold experiment, Giza’s perfection would not have been possible.
Egypt’s pyramid-building evolution was driven by religious belief, technical ambition, and trial and error.
Even today, the Great Pyramid defies time, intrigues scientists, and inspires dreamers.
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(1) The image depicts a mythological scene related to Egyptian creation myths: The elongated shape represents a lotus flower, from which a snake (symbolising creation and energy) emerges. The so-called filament represents the god Harsomtus (Horus the Uniter), depicted as a serpent. The so-called power cable is simply a pillar, possibly representing the djed pillar, symbolising stability and Osiris.
Bibliography and Further Reading:
Step Pyramid of Djoser
De Jager, E. C. (2024). Pit-Grave, Through the Development of the Mastaba Tomb, Up to and Including the Development of Djoser's Step Pyramid. Academia.edu.
SDjoser'sV., Kukela, A., & Lazdina, B. (2017). The Structure of the Step Pyramid of Djoser in Egypt as a Concept of Primordial Hill. ResearchGate.
Casas, J. E., Cañizares, M., & Baritto, I. (2023). The Great Step Pyramid of Djoser: History, Geology and Nanoplankton Content from its Rock Casing. Journal of Geological Resource.
Friedman, F. (1995). The Underground Relief Panels of King Djoser at the Step Pyramid Complex. Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt.
Stadelmann, R. (1995). Builders of the Pyramids. Civilisations of the Ancient Near East.
Great Pyramid of Giza
Yasseen, A. (2018). Architecture of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Uluslararası Mimari Mirası Koruma Konferansı.
Procter, C., & Kozak-Holland, M. (2019). The Giza Pyramid: Learning from This Megaproject. Journal of Management History.
ASmith, C. B. (2018). How the Great Pyramid Was Built.
Verner, M. (2021). The Pyramids (New and Revised): The Archaeology and History of Egypt's Iconic Monuments.
Davidovits,Egypt's (2008). They Built the Pyramids.
Darn~ I thought I had time to finally read your post! Alas, on the hop again. Have printed the page for when I have some breather time. Enjoy your day!