Pyramid of Userkaf

Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta


Northeast of the Step Pyramid is the Pyramid of Userkaf, the first pharaoh of the 5th dynasty (closed to the public for safety reasons). Although the removal of its limestone casing has left it a mound of rubble, it once rose to a height of 49m. Furthermore, its funerary temple was once decorated with the most exquisite naturalistic relief carvings, judging from one of the few remaining fragments (now in the Egyptian Museum) showing birds by the river.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cairo Outskirts & the Nile Delta attractions

1. Step Pyramid of Zoser

0.2 MILES

In the year 2650 BC, Pharaoh Zoser (2667–2648 BC) asked his chief architect, Imhotep (later deified), to build him a Step Pyramid. This is the world's…

2. Pyramid of Teti

0.22 MILES

The Pyramid of Teti (2345–2323 BC), the first pharaoh of the 6th dynasty, was built in step form and cased in limestone, but today only a modest mound…

3. Tomb of Mereruka

0.23 MILES

Mereruka was the successor to Kagemni as Pharaoh Titi's chief justice and his tomb, like Kagemni's, is full of preserved reliefs of daily life. Some of…

4. Saqqara

0.25 MILES

Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is…

5. Tomb of Kagemni

0.27 MILES

The plump-looking chief justice under Teti, Kagemni appears in his own mastaba tomb as though he enjoyed the riches of the land, if the splendid and…

6. Tomb of Akhethotep & Ptahhotep

0.32 MILES

This joint mastaba for Akhethotep and his son Ptahhotep has two burial chambers, two chapels and a pillared hall. The painted reliefs in Ptahhotep’s…

7. Tomb of Ankhmahor

0.34 MILES

The tomb of Ankhmahor contains similar precise friezes to the Tomb of Kagemni, but is closed because of deteriorating conditions.

8. Philosophers' Circle

0.4 MILES

This quite sad-looking group of Greek statues, the remnant of a collection of philosophers and poets set up as a wayside shrine by Ptolemy I (323–283 BC)…

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