The vast necropolis of Saqqara, the cemetery area of ancient Memphis, lies on the edge of the Western (Libyan) Desert, on the west bank of the Nile, some 15 kilometers south of the Pyramids of Giza. Extending over an area of almost seven kilometers from north to south, it contains tombs from almost every period of Egyptian history. The whole necropolis has been repeatedly prospected and plundered from an early period down to modern times, notably under the Byzantine Emperors and the Islamic era's Caliphs. Nevertheless, modern scientific excavations, most recently those directed by Walter B Emery in 1936-56 and by the Egyptian Department of Antiquities since 1965, have still been able to recover much new material, which has made important contributions to knowledge.
