The History of Egypt's Pyramids

The Sakara site, which sits about 15 miles or 24 kilometers to the southwest of Cairo, was already a burial ground. Yasser's vizier Imhotep is credited with the shift in design that actually wound up creating the first pyramid. Mastabas had burial chambers that were dug underground beneath them and could be entered by the living to pay respects for the dead. So while we tend to think of pyramids as like singular entities that are self contained within themselves, they're really part of a greater grouping of buildings.