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Biography of ZoserName: ZoserBirth Date: N/A Death Date: N/A Place of Birth: Egypt Nationality: Egyptian Gender: Male Occupations: pharaoh Zoser Zoser (active ca. 2686 B.C.) was the first king of the Third Dynasty, which ushered in Egypt's first golden age, the Old Kingdom.Zoser is always described on his monuments as the "Horus Neteryerkhet." In the so-called Turin Canon of Kings, a hieratic papyrus dating from about the reign of Ramses II, his importance as the founder of a new epoch (Third Dynasty, 2686-2613 B.C.) is noted by the exceptional use of red ink in writing his name. According to the Turin list, he reigned for 19 years, but this period seems much too short for the erection of his vast monument, the Step Pyramid. The Ptolemaic historian Manetho allots him a reign of 29 years.Zoser's main claim to fame is his Step Pyramid at Saqqara, overlooking the ancient capital city of Memphis. The man responsible for its conception and construction was Zoser's architect Imhotep. Known to the Greeks as Imouthes, …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…depicting Zoser smiting the Bedouin of the region. A lengthy rock inscription of Ptolemaic date on the island of Sehêl in the First Cataract of the Nile recounts how, through the counsel of Imhotep, Zoser brought to an end a seven-year famine which had afflicted Egypt by presenting to the ram-headed god Khnum of Elephantine, who controlled the Nile inundation, the stretch of territory in Lower Nubia known in Greek as the Dodekaschoinos. The historical accuracy of this inscription is a matter of debate. Further Reading The development and main features of the Step Pyramid complex are discussed by Earl Baldwin Smith, Egyptian Architecture as Cultural Expression (1938). On Imhotep and his career see Jamieson B. Hurry, Imhotep: The Vizier and Physician of King Zoser (1928). The mastaba at Bêt Khallâf is described by the excavator, John Garstang, Mahasna and Bêt Khallâf (1903). |