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
House of Eternity (Ancient Egypt) hill shape of the mastabas at Saqqara was also incorporated. From the third dynasty, the pyramids served as the burial ground of the King, which developed as a synthesis of the various Upper and Lower Egyptian components of the tomb and valley district. Elements of the tombs and facilities are again found at Saqqara. The large enclosure in Saqqara (Gisr el-Mudir) is said to have served as a stone equivalent of the valley districts of Abydos, as a model for the enclosure of the pyramidal district, as well as the wedge-shaped gallery graves of the second dynasty, in Saqqara. The