• The Pyramid of Djoser, built about 4,600 years ago, to house the tomb of the Pharoah Djoser, has reopened after 14 years of restoration.
  • It was crumbling due to neglect, fierce desert winds, and damage sustained by an earthquake in 1992.
  • The process took 14 years, including a pause during civil unrest in Egypt. It was complicated by local NGOs that claimed the restoration process had actually damaged it.
  • Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.

The first stone pyramid ever built has been restored and is now open to the public.

The Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid, a UNESCO world heritage site, was reopened on March 5, after a restoration took 14 years and nearly $6.6 million.

An architect named Imhotep designed the pyramid more than 4,600 years ago to house the coffin of Pharoah Djoser. He decided, for the first time, to build up. He devised a new structure made of six layers of stone that got smaller as they ascended. The final product was meant to be a stairway to heaven.

It was the first building ever made of stone, and led the way to Egypt building more famous pyramids, like the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Over centuries its condition deteriorated due to the effects of time, neglect, fierce winds, and serious damage sustained in a 1992 earthquake.

And while fixing a crumbling stone pyramid is difficult, it was delayed for almost two years by Egyptian unrest. The restoration also faced scrutiny by Egyptian NGOs that claimed the work was actually making the pyramid worse.

Here's how the pyramid made history and was given a fresh future.


Less than 20 miles to the south of Cairo, in Egypt's former capital Memphis, stands one the oldest pyramids in the world — the Step Pyramid of Djoser, also known as Zoser.

Foto: Pyramid of King Djoser in the distance. Source: CM Dixon / Print Collector / Getty

Sources: The Guardian, Washington Post


Djoser was built about 4,600 years ago, between 2667 and 2648 BC, and is the oldest large-scale stone monument still standing. According to the Los Angeles Times, the shimmering pyramid takes viewers' breath away, and that was the point.

Foto: The Step Pyramid of Djoser (or Zoser), Saqqara, Memphis (UNESCO World Heritage List, 1979) in 2016. Source: DeAgostini/Getty

Sources: The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, AP News


It's situated in the Saqqara necropolis, which is the largest pyramid-related funerary complex in the world.

Foto: The funerary complex of Djoser. Source: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group / Getty

Source: Reuters


While the Great Pyramid of Giza is more famous, and the pyramids at Dahshur are bigger, they might never have existed had it not been for Djoser.

Foto: Bent Pyramid is an ancient Egyptian pyramid, the first, located at the royal necropolis of Dahshur outside of Cairo, Egypt. Source: Visions of America/Universal Images Group / Getty

Source: The Guardian


The pyramid was built for Egyptian Pharoah Djoser, who ruled for 19 years during Ancient Egypt's Third Dynasty. Before him, pharaohs were buried in tombs made of rectangular mud-brick slabs. But Djoser got something grander.

Foto: Djoser statue is pictured inside the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Sources: The Guardian, BBC, Reuters


The pyramid was designed by his chief architect named Imhotep, possibly the world's first architect. Imhotep came up with a novel idea — build up. He decided to use six layers that got smaller as they ascended. And it formed, according to BBC, "a stairway to heaven."

Foto: Note the prominent steps of the Djoser pyramid. Source: Reinhard Dirscherl /Ullstein Bild / Getty

Sources: Smithsonian, BBC, Reuters


It's about 200 feet high — tall enough to make the Pharaoh's ascent into heaven easier.

Foto: People are back dropped by a partly renovated outer wall of the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara outside Cairo. Source: Oliver Weiken/Picture Alliance / Getty

Source: The New York Times


The limestone bricks also distinguished it. About 11.6 million cubic feet of stone and clay were used. Before this, buildings were made from wood, mud brick, and reeds.

Foto: An Egyptian manbackdropped by a partly renovated outer wall of the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara outside Cairo. Source: Oliver Weiken/ Picture Alliance / Getty

Sources: The Guardian, LiveScience


In 1926, French architect Jean Philippe Lauer was the first person to excavate the pyramid. When the tunnels beneath the pyramid were first explored they were tiled in blue, to symbolize Djoser's afterlife.

Foto: French Egyptologist Jean-Philippe Lauer, who will soon turn 94 years old, shows the museum he has built over the last 70 years near the Djoser pyramids in Saqqara (19 miles south of Cairo) Source: Amr Nabeel / AFP / Getty

Source: History Revealed, The Metropolitan Museum of Art


Over the centuries, the pyramid slowly crumbled, due to neglect and harsh desert winds. But in 1992, the pyramid dramatically deteriorated after an earthquake weakened its foundations.

Foto: A policeman stands near the step pyramid of Djoser at the ancient Egyptian Saqqara necropolis some 20 kilometres south of Cairo on September 16, 2014. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Sources: BBC, Smithsonian


In 2006, the Egyptian government announced it was going to restore it. A British engineering firm was hired, but it wasn't a simple task. To keep the pyramid from collapsing inwards, giant self-inflating airbags filled with liquid were inserted inside.

Foto: A security guard stands in front of the Pyramid of Djoser (Zoser), or step pyramid, in the Giza neighbourhood, on the outskirts of Cairo, February 27, 2010. Source: Tarek Mostafa / Reuters

Sources: World Architecture News, Egyptian Streets, BBC, Reuters, Daily Mail


They had been developed by Peter James, a structural engineer, who first designed the airbags to absorb explosions while defusing bombs in Afghanistan.

Foto: A US Marine of 2nd Marine Expeditionary Brigade searching for missing marines after an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) blast in Garmsir district of Helmand Province in 2009. Source: Manpreet Romana / AFP / Getty

Sources: World Architecture News, Egyptian Streets, BBC, Reuters


To keep the pyramid together, steel rods were threaded through the steps diagonally in a way to ensure they weren't visible.

Foto: A view of the Djoser (or Zoser) step pyramid at the Saqqara necropolis, about 35 kilometres south of the capital Cairo. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Source: BBC


Despite the hard work and advanced technology, the restoration was put on hold for nearly two years, from 2011 to the end of 2013, over security concerns. Egypt was enduring uprisings that ended with the country's leader Hosni Mubarak being removed from office.

Foto: Supporters of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood clash with anti-government protesters near the movements' headquarters in Cairo on March 22, 2013. Source: Khaled Desouki / AFP / Getty

Source: Reuters


On top of that, controversies marred the rebuild. Different Egyptian NGOs claimed that the company working on its restoration had damaged it. Egypt's former Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh al-Damati tried to dispel the rumors in 2014.

Foto: Egypt's Minister of Antiquities, Mamdouh al-Damati (C), speaks to reporters as he walks near the Djoser step pyramid at the Saqqara necropolis some 20 kilometres south of Cairo on September 16, 2014. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Sources: Yahoo News, NDTV


UNESCO experts criticized the restoration, so additional work was done that the organization later approved. The restoration was finally finished in 2020. It took 14 years, and cost nearly $6.6 million.

Foto: Building materials gather dust at the foot of the Djoser Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014. Source: Samuel McNeil /AP

Sources: Reuters, News18


On March 5, Djoser was officially reopened. Dignitaries were served cold juices by bow-tied waiters.

Foto: Waiters stand by with cold juice for dignitaries visiting the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, which opened for visitors on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Source: Maya Alleruzzo / AP

At a press conference, Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli told reporters: "We are working hard to build a new Egypt ... and the restoration of our heritage is at the top of our priorities."

Foto: Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli and Minister of Antiquities and Tourism Khaled al-Anany (R) hold a press conference in front of the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Source: Yahoo News


Tourists and reporters could finally enter the pyramid. Seeing what's hidden from the outside world was vital, according to History Revealed, because the subterranean structure was "a real wonder."

Foto: People enter the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara outside Cairo. Source: Oliver Weiken/Picture Alliance / Getty

Source: History Revealed


There are just over 3 miles of labyrinths underneath the pyramid. The workers built false doorways, extra chambers, and dead ends to confuse grave robbers.

Foto: A man walks in a renovated tunnel under the Pyramid of Djoser in Saqqara outside Cairo on March 5. Source: Oliver Weiken/Picture Alliance / Getty

Source: History Revealed


Tourists descended down narrow stairways.

Foto: A tourists walks inside the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

This woman gripped the roof as she descended deeper into the ground.

Foto: A woman tours inside the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Archaeologist Ragab Dawood gave a tour.

Foto: Archaeologist Ragab Dawood gives a tour inside the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, which opened for visitors on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Source: Maya Alleruzzo / AP

He pointed out ancient stone carvings.

Foto: Archaeologist Ragab Dawood describes a stone carving as he gives a tour inside the Step Pyramid in Saqqara, Egypt, which opened for visitors on Thursday, March 5, 2020. Source: Maya Alleruzzo / AP

Imhotep's lasting work was a key point of awe. Khaled al-Anany, the Minister of Antiquities and Tourism, said at the press conference, "We are in awe as to how he was able to create this structure, which has remained standing for 4,700 years."

Foto: A journalist tours inside the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed el-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Source: ARY News


The burial chamber and sarcophagus of King Djoser, which is 90 feet below the surface, was open to the public. New lighting had been added during the restoration, but from up above it didn't look too impressive.

Foto: Top view of the burial chamber and sarcophagus of King Djoser inside the standing step pyramid of Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Sources: History Revealed, Egypt Independent


But from the ground, it's more imposing. When Djoser was buried the opening was closed off with a 3.5-ton block of granite.

Foto: Tourists take pictures at the burial chamber and sarcophagus of King Djoser inside the standing step pyramid of Saqqara, south of Cairo, Egypt March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed Abd El Ghany / Reuters

Source: World Architecture News


Tourists also climbed the staggered sides of the pyramid.

Foto: A tourist climbs the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Security was close by.

Foto: A policeman stands guard near the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

The importance of the reopening was not lost on Egypt's prime minister, who told reporters, "Although of course we are very proud that this is an Egyptian legacy, we also know very well it is world and global heritage that we are very keen to maintain."

Foto: Tourists visit the step pyramid of Djoser in Egypt's Saqqara necropolis, south of the capital Cairo, on March 5, 2020. Source: Mohamed El-Shahed / AFP / Getty

Source: Reuters