Just a half-hour drive from Cairo, at this sprawling UNESCO World Heritage complex of temples, pyramids, and crypts amid miles upon square miles of monochromatic monotony the largest and best known of its many tombs is the step pyramid of King Djoser - also the first ever to be built here, in 2650 BCE, and counted as the oldest extant stone structure in the world.

Read more in Tripatini member Fyllis Hockman's post In Egypt, in Awe - of 6,000 Years of History.

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