<P> The South Court is a large court between the South Tomb and the pyramid . Within the court are curved stones thought to be territorial markers associated with the Heb - sed festival, an important ritual completed by Egyptian kings (typically after 30 years on the throne) to renew their powers . These would have allowed Djoser to claim control over all of Egypt, while its presence in the funerary complex would allow Djoser to continue to benefit from the ritual in the afterlife . At the southern end of the court was a platform approached by steps . It has been suggested that this was a platform for the double throne . This fits into the theory proposed by Barry Kemp, and generally accepted by many, that suggests the whole step pyramid complex symbolizes the royal palace enclosure and allows the king to eternally perform the rituals associated with kingship . At the very south of the South Court lay the South Tomb . </P> <P> The South Tomb has been likened to the satellite pyramids of later Dynasties, and has been proposed to house the ka in the afterlife . Another proposal is that it may have held the canopic jar with the king's organs, but this does not follow later trends where the canopic jar is found in the same place as the body . These proposals stem from the fact that the granite burial vault is much too small to have facilitated an actual burial . </P> <P> The substructure of the South Tomb is entered through a tunnel - like corridor with a staircase that descends about 30m before opening up into the pink granite burial chamber . The staircase then continues west and leads to a gallery that imitates the blue chambers below the step pyramid . </P> <P> Current evidence suggests that the South Tomb was finished before the pyramid . The symbolic king's inner palace, decorated in blue faience, is much more complete than that of the pyramid . Three chambers of this substructure are decorated in blue faience to imitate reed - mat facades, just like the pyramid . One room is decorated with three finely niche reliefs of the king, one depicting him running the Heb - sed . Importantly, Egyptian builders chose to employ their most skilled artisans and depict their finest art in the darkest, most inaccessible place in the complex . This highlights the fact that this impressive craftsmanship was not meant for the benefit of the living but was meant to ensure the king had all the tools necessary for a successful afterlife . </P>

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