Through the Eras

Architecture and DesignThe Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. © CORBIS. REPRODUCED BY PERMISSION.jor change was the rotation from a north/south orientationat Djoser’s complex in Saqqara to an east/westorientation beginning with King Sneferu’s pyramidcomplex at Meidum. Finally, the third major changewas the development of a place in the complex specificallyfor an ongoing ritual on Earth that would continuelong after the king’s death. These developmentsreflected important changes in Egyptian thinking aboutthe king’s afterlife and in Egyptian religion. During theFourth Dynasty, the cult of the sun-god Re rose toprominence, displacing earlier associations of the kingwith the god Horus, son of the king of the afterlife,Osiris. By the time of King Khufu, builder of the GreatPyramid at Giza, the king’s title was the Son of Re. Thisnew emphasis explains all three major changes in theking’s pyramid complex. The step pyramid shape was areference to the ladder the king climbed to reach thestars at night in the afterlife. The true pyramid, however,was a symbol of the sun-god Re. The north/southorientation found at Djoser’s complex emphasized theimportance of the northern night sky and its fixed stars.The east/west orientation of the Fourth-dynasty pyramidsemphasized the course of the sun from east to west.Finally, the ritual installation implies that the purposeof funeral complexes had changed between the Thirdand Fourth Dynasties. Whereas the Third-dynasty nonfunctionalbuildings and subterranean palaces were stagesets built for the king’s ka to continue its life, theFourth-dynasty complexes tied together this world withthe next, creating an institution that required constantinput from this world in order to sustain order in boththis world and the next. This input was made and receivedat the pyramid complexes in the form of a ritualperformed there to energize the pyramid as a place wherethe king’s ba-spirit merged into the daily cycle of birth,death, and rebirth of the sun.STANDARD BUILDINGS. In addition to the pyramiditself, Fourth-dynasty pyramid complexes also includeda temple attached to the east side of the pyramid calledboth the pyramid temple and the mortuary temple inEgyptological literature. There are also often subsidiarypyramids near the main pyramid known as the queen’spyramids. The pyramid temple is connected to anothertemple located further to the east by a covered causeway.The eastern temple is usually called a valley temple becausein most cases it is located in the Nile Valley whileArts and Humanities Through the Eras: Ancient Egypt (2675 B.C.E.–332 B.C.E.) 15