The world's first pyramid, according to Discovering Egypt, it consisted of multiple mastabas (flat-roofed structures with sloping sides that had been the traditional pharaoh burial structures) one stacked atop the next becoming smaller each time. Imhotep is credited with designing the pharaoh's tomb, the Step Pyramid at Saqqara. Although he was born a commoner, Imhotep rose to become chief architect to Pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty of Egypt and is known as the first architect, among other distinctions.
Shanna Baker/Getty Imagesīut before Michaelangelo and Mimar Sinan there was Imhotep, who lived who lived sometime between 2667 B.C.E. The step pyramid at Saqqara, south of Cairo, designed by Imhotep, is Egypt's first pyramid.
