Illustrative model — an approximation, not a scan of the original object.
c. 2667 – 2648 BCE
Seated Statue of Djoser
Third Dynasty.
- Material
- Painted limestone
- Findspot
- The serdab north of the Step Pyramid, Saqqara
- Discovery
- Uncovered during Antiquities Service excavations at Saqqara in 1924–25.
- Held by
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo
- Inventory number
- JE 49158
An almost life-size seated statue of the king in a long cloak and a large headdress. It was placed in a serdab — a sealed chamber with two openings in its wall looking outward.
A replica now sits in the serdab at Saqqara; the original is in the museum.
Certainty: Established
The statue was found in a sealed serdab beside the Step Pyramid, with two openings in the wall at eye level.
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo “Seated statue of Djoser (Netjerikhet), inventory JE 49158”
- Mark Lehner (1997) “The Complete Pyramids” Thames & Hudson, London
Certainty: Probable
The eyes were originally inlaid and were removed in antiquity.
Scholarly note: The empty sockets show the eyes were inlaid; when and by whom they were removed is unknown.
- Egyptian Museum, Cairo “Seated statue of Djoser (Netjerikhet), inventory JE 49158”
- Mark Lehner (1997) “The Complete Pyramids” Thames & Hudson, London