Step Pyramid Complex of Djoser

Designed by Imhotep around 2670 BC, this is the earliest large-scale cut-stone construction in the world — six mastabas stacked, 62 metres high. The surrounding complex reproduces in stone what had until then been built in reed, timber and mudbrick: engaged columns imitating bundled reeds, and dummy chapels with doors carved permanently open. A fourteen-year restoration reopened it in 2020.