The burial chamber and antechamber of the pyramid of Unas. Ṣaqqārah, Egypt

"The route through a pyramid complex leads finally to the great stone false door at the back of the offering chapel. On the 'other side', behind solid masonry, deep under the pyramid, lay the most intimate rooms of this house of eternity: the burial chamber and antechamber. Beginning with the pyramid of Unas at the end of the 5th dynasty, the walls of these chambers were inscribed with vertical columns of texts from Egypt's oldest religious literature. The Pyramid Texts are a tantalizing, yet confusing, literary window on the meaning of a pyramid complex." [Lehner M., 1997: The Complete pyramids. Thames and Hudson]. "Saqqâra (Ṣaqqārah) is a large necropolis south of Cairo and west of ancient Memphis. It was the necropolis of ancient Memphis; has remains of several pyramids from 5th and 6th dynasties and the famous Step Pyramid, the earliest true pyramid in Egypt, built for King Zoser (Djoser) of the 3rd dynasty ca. 2630 BC by his prime minister Imhotep. It is not to be confused with the modern town of the same name." [The J. P. Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographical Names]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was working on "The Nile" project and traveled to Africa during April 1962, visiting Egypt.