Djoser (also read as Djeser and Zoser) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 3rd Dynasty during the Old Kingdom, and was the founder of that epoch.

More significantly, the English Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson has demonstrated that burial seals found at the entrance to Khasekhemwy's tomb in Abydos name only Djoser, rather than Nebka.

The exact identity of the founder of the dynasty is a matter of debate, due to the fragmentary nature of the records from the period.

[14] Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson believes that the weight of archeological evidence favours Djoser (Netjerikhet) as Khasekhemwy's successor and therefore founder of the Third Dynasty.

Further archaeological evidence linking the reigns of the two pharaohs together are found at Shunet et-Zebib, which suggest that Djoser oversaw the burial of his predecessor.

This archeological evidence is supplemented by at least one historical source, the Saqqara king list, which names Djoser as the immediate successor of Beby – a misreading of Khasekhemwy.

Because of his many substantial building projects, particularly at Saqqara, some scholars argue Djoser must have enjoyed a reign of nearly three decades.

Wilkinson reconstructs the Annals as giving Djoser "28 complete or partial years", noting that the cattle counts recorded on Palermo stone register V, and Cairo Fragment 1, register V, for the beginning and ending of Djoser's reign, would most likely indicate his regnal years 1–5 and 19–28.

[4] This dating is supported by authors Rosalie and Charles Baker in Ancient Egypt: People of the Pyramids.

This is known from inscriptions found in the desert there, sometimes displaying the banner of Set alongside the symbols of Horus, as had been more common under Khasekhemwy.

Manetho, many centuries later, alludes to architectural advances of this reign, mentioning that "Tosorthros" discovered how to build with hewn stone, in addition to being remembered as the physician Aesculapius, and for introducing some reforms in the writing system.

Some fragmentary reliefs found at Heliopolis and Gebelein mention Djoser's name, and suggest he commissioned construction projects in those cities.

One of the most famous contemporaries of king Djoser was his vizier (tjaty), "head of the royal shipyard" and "overseer of all stone works", Imhotep.

It is possible that Imhotep was mentioned in the also famous Westcar Papyrus, in a story called "Khufu and the magicians".

A papyrus from the ancient Egyptian temple of Tebtunis, dating to the 2nd century AD, preserves a long story in the demotic script about Djoser and Imhotep.

Egyptian historian Al-Nuwayri (1279–1333) described Djoser as "a king who was a wise ruler of Egypt" and claimed that the Copts had a feast in honour of him called the "vine festival".

[21] Egyptologist Okasha El-Daly noted that "Demotic romances of ancient Egyptian rulers such as Zoser, Inaros and Nectanebo also became popular in the medieval Arabic sources, which show them as heroes, with their names and deeds well recognised by the writers".

It is massive and contains only one tight corridor leading to the close midst of the monument, ending in a rough chamber where the entrance to the tomb shaft was hidden.

The eastern gallery contained three limestone reliefs depicting king Djoser during the celebration of the Heb-Sed (rejuvenation feast).

At the eastern side of the pyramid, very close to the blue chambers, eleven tomb shafts lead straight down for 30–32 metres, and then deviate in a right angle to the west.

It is now thought that Djoser once restored the original tombs of the ancestors, and then sealed the grave goods in the galleries in an attempt to save them.

Each characteristic of the statue represents something, the striated tripartite wig he is wearing assimilates him to the living world as a dead king.