CAIRO — The southern cemetery of King Djoser in the Saqqara region, south of Cairo, has been reopened after the restoration works that began in 2006 were completed.

The tomb of King Djoser is located in the south of the funerary area in Saqqara, according to Mustafa al-Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and it consists of two parts. The upper part of the cemetery includes a limestone mastaba (a terrace-like flat-roofed, rectangular structure), while the lower part is carved into the rock at a depth of about 30 meters, he added.

A stone staircase leads to the lower part of the cemetery, and a well at the end of the cemetery includes a burial room with a huge pink granite sarcophagus similar to the burial room of the Step Pyramid, according to Waziri. The structure also includes a labyrinth of corridors whose walls are decorated with hieroglyphs of the king and his titles.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass told Al-Monitor that the site and the Step Pyramid nearby — where the king is actually believed to have been buried — were on the verge of collapse 15 years ago. “After inspection of the site, I took the decision of restoration, and we contracted with a company to undertake the restoration work," he said. "We started the restoration to save the cemetery and the Step Pyramid [in 2006] up until the 2011 revolution and the overthrow of the Mubarak regime. Due to the riots and violence in the country back then, the restoration works were suspended.”