Djoser

Netjerikhet("divine of body") is known to us as Djoser. However, this may have been his birth name, and it only appears in later records. During his reign he was called Netjerikhet, and the name Djoser was only added to his pyramid complex during the new kingdom. His two names are recorded together in a stelea found on the isle of Sele, in Aswan. The stelae was a Ptolemaic forgery alleging that the surrounding area was granted to the temple by the Pharoah.

He seems to have inherited some internal political problems from his predecessor Sanakhte, but extended his control as far south as Aswan. He also constructed a Step Pyramid Complex at Saqqara which was the first building ever to be constructed entirely out of stone. His vizier, Imhotep, was the genius responsible for the construction of this extraordinary monument. He was worshipped in his own right in later times. Djoser reigned for a short nineteen years, making the construction of the step pyramid complex all the more impressive.