Serapeum of Saqqara (664–610 BC) of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty and later used by the Ptolemaic dynasty. The long boulevard leading to the ceremonial site, flanked by 600 sphinxes, likely was built under Nectanebo I, (379/8–361/0 BC) the founder of the thirtieth dynasty (the last native one). The temple was discovered by Auguste Mariette, who had gone to Egypt to collect Coptic-language manuscripts, but later grew interested in the remains of the Saqqara necropolis. In 1850, Mariette found the head of one sphinx sticking out of the shifting desert dunes, cleared the sand and followed the boulevard to the site. After using explosives to
Pyramid of Merikare pharaoh were uncovered, Hawass attributed the pyramid to Menkauhor since he is the only pharaoh of the Fifth Dynasty whose pyramid had not been identified. If Berlandini and Hawass are correct, then the pyramid of Merikare remains undiscovered, somewhere in the sands of Saqqara. Pyramid of Merikare The Pyramid of Merikare is an ancient Egyptian pyramid that remains unidentified, but is attested by inscriptions on funerary steles and possibly is located in Saqqara. The pyramid is presumed to be the burial place of the Herakleopolitan pharaoh Merikare, who ruled toward the end of the Tenth Dynasty c. 2040 BC during