What does the stairway mean in Egyptian religion?

The stairway and the first mound of creation. A step pyramid is a stairway to the sky, and the Pyramid Texts speak of a ladder set up for the king.

What the sign shows: A flight of steps.
How Gerald Massey read it in 1907: Steps, ladder, mount and pyramid are one idea to Massey: the way up from the world below to the summit he calls the Mount of Glory.
Where you see it today: “Jacob’s ladder” and “stairway to heaven” are the same picture in other traditions.
Where it stands in Massey’s book: Massey names it 89 times across the book. Book VIII, p. 472: “Fifteen steps out of the depths”; Book IV, p. 207: “Two paradises and two ladders”; Book VI, p. 390: “A road built for the dead”.
Signs that look like it: Pyramid, Horizon and The scales. The app’s Symbol Trainer sets them side by side, so the eye learns to tell them apart.
In Massey’s words: “The ladder was a co-type with the mount and steps of ascent.” (Gerald Massey, Ancient Egypt: The Light of the World (1907), Book VI, p. 392)
In the app: Trainer › Symbol Trainer › Stairway. The app’s Symbol Trainer reads 42 signs this way, each with Massey’s own words and the page they stand on.

Last updated October 25, 2026.

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