Obsessed with the afterlife, Egypt's rulers of 4,500 years ago glorified themselves in stone, thereby laying the foundation of the first great nation-state. A Pyramid is an enormous machine that helps the king go through the wall of the dead, achieve resurrection and live forever in the happiness of the gods. The start of the Old Kingdom is said to be the building of the Djoser's monument. The construction of Step Pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser began around 2630 B.C. and was designed to awe the ancient Egyptians, to impress them with their rule's godlike strength. It was the world's first great construction project; indeed, it was the world's largest building.

To build such outstanding monuments required a preciseness of architecture, and years of endless labor from so many Egyptians. The kingdom developed a funerary tradition around the worship of their divine pharaohs, both living and dead. Every aspect of life was affected. The Egyptians dug a network of canals off the Nile to transport stone for the pyramids and food for the workers, and a simple, local agriculture became the force that knit together the kingdom's economy. The need to keep records of the harvest may have led to the invention of a written language.

The Step Pyramid is a terraced structure rising in six unequal stages to a height of 60 meters, its base measuring 120 meters by 108 meters. The substructure has a system of underground corridors and rooms. Its main feature being a central shaft 25 meters deep and 8 meters wide. The step pyramid rises within a vast walled court 544 meters long and 277 meters wide, in which are the remnants of several stone edifices built to supply the wants of the king in the here after. Towering limestone columns were shaped to mimic the sway and droop of leafy plants. Immovable doors hung on great carved hinges. Facades called false doors through which the pharaoh's ka, or vital force, was presumed to pass, lay recessed within walls. The interiors of dummy temples were packed with rubble. Everything about the place bespoke illusion. The Step Pyramid was a ladder. Not a symbol of a ladder but an actual one, by which the soul of a dead ruler might climb to the sky, joining the gods !

Yet after five and a half centuries this flourishing civilization collapsed, plunging Egypt into disorder. Perhaps the seeds of the collapse were planted in the soil of the civilization that, for all its grandeur, seemed obsessed with the idea that its dead rulers must live forever.

No one knows why the Egyptians created this fantastic scene, but some archae

Some common words found in the essay are:
Step Pyramid, King Khafre, Ancient Egypt, Pharaoh Djoser, Egypt's Kingdom, Nile Close, Tura Nile, Sphinx Carved, 4th dynasty, EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS, step pyramid, knit kingdom's economy, kingdom's economy, mortuary temple, knit kingdom's, live forever, building djoser's, king 4th dynasty, king 4th, 3/4 feet, force knit kingdom's, pyramid built,
Approximate Word count = 1291
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)