Saqqara served as capital of Egypt, Saqqara remained in use as a burial ground for nobles. Moreover, the area became an important destination for pilgrims to a number of cult centres. Activities sprang up around the Serapeum, and extensive underground galleries were cut into the rock as burial sites for large numbers of mummified ibises, baboons, cats, dogs, and falcons. Saqqara and the surrounding areas of Abusir and Dahshur suffered damage by looters during the 2011 Egyptian protests. Store rooms were broken into, but the monuments were mostly unharmed. During routine excavations in 2011 at the dog catacomb in Saqqara necropolis,
South Saqqara Stone the 18th and 25th counts for Pepi I and his Year after the 23rd count, or the Year of and the Year after the 2nd count for Merenre) within this document. The Stone is considered one of the earliest historical documents in existence, as it is not merely a list of dynastic ancestors for the ruling pharaoh, but includes the names of all preceding pharaohs known to the artefact's creators, including such known usurpers as Userkare. South Saqqara Stone The South Saqqara Stone is the lid of the sarcophagus of the ancient Egyptian queen Ankhenespepi which was inscribed with a