Memphis, Egypt
Encyclopedia
Memphis was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch
, the first nome
of Lower Egypt
. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo
.
According to legend related by Manetho
, the city was founded by the pharaoh
Menes
around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt
during the Old Kingdom
, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history
. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta
, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.
Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah
, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple
, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka
of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.
The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country
itself. Its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria
. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica
.
The ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its magnificent past. They have been preserved, along with the pyramid complex at Giza
, as a World Heritage Site
since 1979. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.
name was Inebou-Hedjou.(translated as "the white walls").
Because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period
, it was known Djed-Sut ("everlasting places"), which is the name of the pyramid of Teti
.
The city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy (meaning "Life of the Two Lands"), stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper
and Lower Egypt
. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom
(c. 2055–1640 BCE), and is frequently found in ancient Egyptian texts. Some scholars maintain that this name was actually that of the western district of the city that lay between the great Temple of Ptah and the necropolis at Saqqara
, an area that contained a sacred tree.
At the beginning of the New Kingdom
(c. 1550 BCE), the city became known as Men-nefer (meaning "enduring and beautiful"), which became Menfe in Coptic
. The name "Memphis" is the Greek
corruption of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I
, located west of the city.
The Egyptian historian Manetho referred to Memphis as Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka
of Ptah"), which he approximated in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos), from which derives the Latin
AEGYPTVS and the modern English name of Egypt. The term Copt
is also believed to be etymologically derived from this name.
In the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.
, on the west bank of the Nile
. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur
, Abusir
, Abu Gorab
, and Zawyet el'Aryan
, south of Cairo, all lie within the administrative borders of historical Memphis (29°50′58.8"N 31°15′15.4"E). The city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. (The 22nd nome of Upper Egypt and 1st nome of Lower Egypt).
as a centre for the worship of Ptah
, the god of creation and artworks. The alabaster sphinx
that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former power and prestige. The Memphis triad
, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his consort Sekhmet
, and their son Nefertem
, formed the main focus of worship in the city.
Memphis declined briefly after the 18th dynasty
with the rise of Thebes
and the New Kingdom, and was revived under the Persians before falling firmly into second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important city. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641 CE. It was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon became a little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.
, the first pharaoh to unite the Two Lands
, established his capital on the banks of the Nile
by diverting the river with dikes. The Greek historian Herodotus
, who tells a similar story, relates that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point the suzerains
of the country, paid particular attention to the condition of these dams so that the city was saved from the annual flooding
. Herodotus dates the founding of the city at around 3100 BC, over 2500 years prior to his visit.
It has been theorised that Menes was possibly a mythical king, similar to Romulus and Remus
of Rome. Some scholars suggest that Egypt most likely became unified through mutual need, developing cultural ties and trading partnerships, although that the first capital of united Egypt was the city of Memphis is undisputed. Egyptologists have also identified the legendary Menes with the historical Narmer
, who is represented in the Palette of Narmer conquering the Nile delta in Lower Egypt and establishing himself as pharaoh. This palette has been dated to ca. 31st century BCE, and would thus correlate with the story of Egypt's unification by Menes.
. It was the state capital of the godlike pharaohs, who reigned from Memphis from the date of the 1st dynasty
. During the earliest years of the reign of Menes, according to Manetho, the seat of power was further to the south, at Thinis
.
According to Manetho, ancient sources suggest the "white walls" (Ineb-hedj) were founded by Menes. Referred to in some texts as the "Fortress of the White Wall", it is likely that the king established himself here to better control this new union between the two rival kingdoms. The complex of Djoser
of the 3rd dynasty
, located in the ancient necropolis at Saqqara
, would then be the royal funerary chamber, housing all the elements necessary to royalty: temples, shrines, ceremonial courts, and palaces barracks.
The golden age
began with the 4th dynasty
, which seems to have furthered the primary role of Memphis as a royal residence where rulers received the double crown
, the divine manifestation of the unification of the Two Lands. Coronations and jubilees such as the Sed festival
were celebrated in the temple of Ptah. The earliest signs of such ceremonies were found in the chambers of Djoser.
It was also during this period that developed the clergy of the temple of Ptah. The importance of the shrine is attested in this period with payments of food and other goods necessary for the funerary rites of royal and noble dignitaries. This shrine is also cited in the annals preserved on the Palermo Stone
, and beginning from the reign of Menkaura
, we know the names of the high priests
of Memphis that seem to work in pairs at least until the reign of Teti
.
The architecture of this period was similar to that seen at Giza, royal necropolis of the Fourth dynasty, where recent excavations have revealed that the essential focus of the kingdom at that time centred on the construction of the royal tomb. A strong suggestion of this notion is the etymology of the name of the city itself, which matched that of the pyramid of Pepi I of the 6th dynasty
. Memphis was then the heir to a long artistic and architectural practice, constantly encouraged by the monuments of preceding reigns.
All these necropoleis were surrounded by camps inhabited by craftsmen and labourers, dedicated exclusively to the construction of royal tombs. Spread over several kilometres stretching in all directions, Memphis formed a true megalopolis
, with temples connected by sacred temenos
, and ports connected by roadways and canals. The perimeter of the city thus gradually extended into a vast urban sprawl. Its centre remained around the temple complex of Ptah.
, the capital and court of the pharaoh had moved to Thebes in the south, leaving Memphis for a time in the shade. Although the seat of political power had been shifted, however, Memphis remained perhaps the most important commercial and artistic centre, as evidenced by the discovery of handicrafts districts and cemeteries, located west of the temple of Ptah.
Also found were vestiges attesting to the architectural focus of this time. A large granite offering table on behalf of Amenemhat I
mentioned the erection by the king of a shrine to the god Ptah, master of Truth. Other blocks registered in the name of Amenemhat II
were found to be used as foundations for large monoliths preceding the pylons of Rameses II. These kings were also known to have ordered mining expeditions, raids or military campaigns beyond the borders, erecting monuments or statues to the consecration of deities, evinced by a panel recording official acts of the royal court during this time. In the ruins of the Temple of Ptah, a block in the name of Senusret II
bears an inscription indicating an architectural commission as a gift to the gods of Memphis. Moreover, many statues found at the site, later restored by the New Kingdom pharaohs, are attributed to pharaohs of the 12th dynasty
. Examples include the two stone giants that have been recovered amidst the temple ruins, which were later restored under the name of Rameses II.
Finally, according to the tradition recorded by Herodotus and Diodorus
, Amenemhet III built the northern gate of the Temple of Ptah. Remains attributed to this pharaoh were indeed found during the excavations in this area conducted by Flinders Petrie, who confirmed the connection. It is also worth noting that, during this time, mastaba
s of the high priests of Ptah were constructed near the royal pyramids at Saqqara, showing that the royalty and the clergy of Memphis at that time were closely linked. The 13th dynasty
continued this trend, and some pharaohs of this line were buried at Saqqara, attesting that Memphis retained its place at the heart of the monarchy.
With the invasion of the Hyksos
, and their rise to power ca. 1650 BC, the city of Memphis came under siege. Following its capture, many monuments and statues of the ancient capital and were dismantled, looted or damaged by the Hyksos kings, who later carried them to adorn their new capital at Avaris
. Evidence of royal propaganda has been uncovered and attributed to the Theban kings of the 17th dynasty
, who initiated the reconquest of the kingdom half a century later.
thus opened with the victory over the invaders by the Thebans. Although the reigns of Amenhotep II
and Thutmose IV
saw considerable royal focus in Memphis, power remained for the most part in the south. With the long period of peace that followed, prosperity again took hold of the city, which benefited from her strategic position. Strengthening trade ties with other empires meant that the port of Peru-nefer (literally means "Bon Voyage") became the gateway to the kingdom for neighbouring regions, including Byblos
and the Levant
.
In the New Kingdom
, Memphis became a centre for the education of royal princes and the sons of the nobility. Amenhotep II, born and raised in Memphis, was made the setem—the high priest over Lower Egypt—during the reign of his father. His son, Thutmose IV received his famed and recorded dream
whilst residing as a young prince in Memphis. During his exploration of the site, Karl Richard Lepsius
identified a series of blocks and broken colonnades in the name of Thutmose IV to the east of the Temple of Ptah. They had to belong to a royal building, most likely a ceremonial palace.
It was also during the 18th dynasty that would date the founding of the temple of Astarte
, which Herodotus mistakes as being dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite
. It has been attributed to the reign of Amenhotep III
. The greatest work of this pharaoh in Memphis, however, was a temple called "Nebmaatra united with Ptah", which is cited by many sources from the period of his reign, including artefacts listing the works of Huy
, the High Steward of Memphis. The location of this temple has not been precisely determined, but a number of its brown quartzite blocks were found to have been reused by Rameses II for the construction of the small temple of Ptah. This leads some Egyptologists to suggest that the latter temple had been built over the site of the first.
According to inscriptions found in Memphis, Akhenaten
founded a temple of Aten
in the city. The burial chamber of one of the priests of this cult has been uncovered at Saqqara. His successor Tutankhamun
relocated the royal court from Amarna
to Memphis before the end of the second year of his reign. Whilst in Memphis, Tutankhamun initiated a period of restoration of the temples and traditions following the monotheistic era of Atenism
, which was regarded as heresy
. The tombs of important officials from his reign, such as Horemheb
and Maya
, are situated in Saqqara, although Horemheb was eventually buried in the Valley of the Kings
after reigning as pharaoh himself.
There is evidence that, under Rameses II, the city developed new importance in the political sphere through its proximity to the new capital Pi-Rameses
. The pharaoh devoted many monuments in Memphis and adorned them with colossal symbols of glory. Merneptah
, his successor, constructed a palace and developed the southeast wall of the temple of Ptah. For the early part of the 19th dynasty
, Memphis received the privileges of royal attention, and it is this dynasty that is most evident among the ruins of the city today.
With the 21st
and 22nd dynasties
, we see a continuation of the religious development initiated by Rameses. Memphis does not seem to suffer a decline during the Third Intermediate Period
, which saw great changes in the geopolitics of the country. Instead it is likely that the pharaohs worked to develop the Memphite cult in their new capital of Tanis
, to the northeast. In light of some remains found at the site, it is known that a temple of Ptah was based there. Siamun
is cited as having built a temple dedicated to Amun
, the remains of which were found by Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century, in the south of the temple of Ptah complex.
According to inscriptions describing his architectural work, Sheshonk I, founder of the 22nd dynasty, constructed a forecourt and pylon of the temple of Ptah, a monument which he called the "Castle of Millions of Years of Sheshonk, Beloved of Amun". The funerary cult surrounding this monument, well known in the New Kingdom, was still functioning several generations after its establishment at the temple, leading some scholars to suggest that it may have contained the royal burial chamber of the pharaoh himself. Sheshonk also ordered the building of a new shrine for the god Apis
, especially devoted to funeral ceremonies in which the bull was led to his death to be ritually mummified.
A necropolis for the high priests of Memphis dating precisely from the 22nd dynasty has been found west of the forum. It included a chapel dedicated to Ptah by a prince Shoshenq
, son of Osorkon II
, whose tomb was found in Saqqara in 1942. The chapel is currently visible in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo, behind a trio of colossi of Rameses II, which are also from Memphis.
, Memphis is often the scene of liberation struggles of the local dynasties against an occupying force, such as the Kushites, Assyrians and Persians.
The triumphant campaign of Piankhi
, ruler of the Kushites
, saw the establishment of the 25th dynasty
, whose seat of power was in Napata
. Piankhi's conquest of Egypt was recorded on the Victory Stele at the Temple of Amun in Gebel Barkal
. Following the capture of Memphis, he restored the temples and cults neglected during the reign of the Libyans
. His successors are known for building for chapels in the southwest corner of the temple of Ptah.
Memphis became at the heart of the turmoil produced by the great Assyrian threat. Under Taharqa
, the city formed the frontier base of the resistance, which soon crumbled as the Kushite king was driven back into Nubia
. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon
, supported by some of the native Egyptian princes, captured Memphis in 671 BCE. His forces sacked and raided the city, slaughtered villagers and erected piles of their heads. Esarhaddon returned to his capital Nineveh
with rich booty, and erected a victory stele showing the son of Taharqa in chains. Almost as soon as the king left, Egypt rebelled against Assyrian rule.
In Assyria, Ashurbanipal
succeeded his father and resumed the offensive against Egypt. In a massive invasion in 664 BCE, the city of Memphis was again sacked and looted, and the king Tantamani
was pursued into Nubia and defeated, putting a definitive end to the Kushite reign over Egypt. Power then returned to the Saite pharaohs
, who, fearful of an invasion from the Babylonians
, reconstructed and even fortified structures in the city, as is attested by the palace built by Apries
.
Under the Persians, structures in the city were preserved and strengthened, and Memphis was made the administrative headquarters of the newly conquered satrap
y. A Persian garrison was permanently installed within the city, probably in the great north wall, near the domineering palace of Apries. The excavations by Flinders Petrie revealed that this sector included armouries. For almost a century and a half, the city remained the capital of the Egyptian satrapy, officially becoming one of the epicentres of commerce in the vast territory conquered by the Achaemenid monarchy.
The steles dedicated to Apis in the Serapeum at Saqqara, commissioned by the reigning monarch, represent a key element in understanding the events of this period. As in the Late Period, the catacombs in which the remains of the sacred bulls were buried gradually grew in size, and later took on a monumental appearance that confirms the growth of the cult's hypostases throughout the country, and particularly in Memphis and its necropolis. Thus, a monument dedicated by Cambyses II seems to refute the testimony of Herodotus, who lends the conquerors a criminal attitude of disrespect against the sacred traditions.
The nationalist awakening came with the rise to power, however briefly, of Amyrtaeus
in 404 BCE, who ended the Persian occupation. He was defeated and executed at Memphis in October of 399 BCE by Nepherites I, founder of the 29th dynasty
. The execution was recorded in an Aramaic papyrus document (Papyrus Brooklyn 13). Nepherites moved the capital to Mendes
, in the eastern delta, and Memphis lost its status in the political sphere. It retained, however, its religious, commercial, and strategic importance, and was instrumental in resisting Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt.
Under Nectanebo I
, a major rebuilding program was initiated for temples across the country. In Memphis, a powerful new wall was rebuilt for the Temple of Ptah, and developments were made to temples and chapels inside the complex. Nectanebo II
meanwhile, while continuing the work of his predecessor, began building large sanctuaries, especially in the necropolis of Saqqara, adorning them with pylons, statues and paved roads lined with rows of sphinxes. Despite his efforts to prevent the recovery of the country by the Persians, he succumbed to a massive invasion in 343 BCE, and was defeated at Pelusium
. Nectanebo II retreated south to Memphis, to which the emperor Artaxerxes III laid siege, forcing the pharaoh to flee to Upper Egypt, and eventually to Nubia.
A brief liberation of the city under the rebel-king Khababash
(338 to 335 BCE) is evinced by an Apis bull sarcophagus bearing his name, which was discovered at Saqqara dating from his second year. The armies of Darius III eventually regained control of the city.
Memphis under the Late Period saw recurring invasions followed by successive liberations. Several times besieged, it was the scene of several of the bloodiest battles in the history of the country. Despite the support of their Greek allies in undermining the hegemony of the Achaemenids, the country nevertheless fell into the hands of the conquerors, and Memphis was never again to become the nation's capital. In 332 BCE came the Greeks, who took control of the country from the Persians, and Egypt would never see a new native dynasty ascend the pharaoh's throne.
asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Ptolemy II
later transferred the sarcophagus
to Alexandria, where a royal tomb was constructed for its burial. The exact location of the tomb has been lost since then. According to Aelian
, the seer Aristander
foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".
Thus began the Ptolemaic dynasty
, during which began the city's gradual decline. It was Ptolemy I who first introduced the cult of Serapis
in Egypt, establishing his cult in Saqqara. From this period date many developments of the Saqqara Serapeum, including the building of the Chamber of Poets, as well as the dromos adorning the temple, and many elements of Greek-inspired architecture. The cult's reputation extended beyond the borders of the country, but was later eclipsed by the great Alexandrian Serapeum, built in Ptolemy's honour by his successors.
The Decrees of Memphis
were issued in 216 and 196 BCE, by Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V respectively. Delegates from the principal clergies of the kingdom gathered in synod
, under the patronage of the High Priest of Ptah and in the presence of the pharaoh, to establish the religious policy of country for years to come, also dictating fees and taxes, creating new foundations, and paying tribute to the Ptolemaic rulers. These decrees were engraved on stelae
in three scripts to be read and understood by all: Demotic
, hieroglyphic
, and Greek. The most famous of these stelae is the Rosetta Stone
, which allowed the deciphering of ancient Egyptian script in the 19th century.
They were other stelae, funerary this time, discovered on the site that have forwarded knowledge of the genealogy of the higher clergy of Memphis, a dynasty of high priests of Ptah. The lineage retained strong ties with the royal family in Alexandria, to the extent that marriages occurred between certain high priests and Ptolemaic princesses, strengthening even further the commitment between the two families.
, which opened onto the empire. The rise of the cult of Serapis, a syncretic deity most suited to the mentality of the new rulers of Egypt, and the emergence of Christianity
taking root deep into the country, spelled the complete ruin of the ancient cults of Memphis.
Gradually, the city dropped out of existence during the Byzantine and Copt
ic periods. The city then became a quarry to build new settlements nearby, including a new capital founded by the Arab
s who took possession
in the 7th century. The foundations of Fustat and later Cairo, both built further north, were laid with stones of dismantled temples and ancient necropoleis of Memphis. In the 13th century, the Arab chronicler Abd-ul-Latif, upon visiting the site, describes and gives testimony to the grandeur of the ruins of Memphis:
Although the remains today are nothing compared to what was witnessed by the Arab historian, his testimony has inspired the work of many archaeologists. The first surveys and excavations of the 19th century, and the extensive work of Flinders Petrie, have been able to show a little of the ancient capital's former glory. Memphis and its necropolis, which include funerary rock tombs, mastabas, temples and pyramids, were inscribed on the World Heritage List
of UNESCO in 1979.
, Memphis flourished in power and size, rivalling Thebes both politically and architecturally
. An indicator of this development can be found in a chapel of Seti I
dedicated to the worship of Ptah. After over a century of excavations on the site, archaeologists have gradually been able to confirm the layout and expansion of the ancient city.
, was the largest and most important temple in ancient Memphis. It was one of the most prominent structures in the city, occupying a large precinct within the city's centre. Enriched by centuries of veneration, the temple was one of the three foremost places of worship in Ancient Egypt, the others being the great temples of Horus
in Heliopolis
, and of Amun
in Thebes.
Much of what is known about the ancient temple today comes from the writings of Herodotus, who visited the site at the time of the first Persian invasion, long after the fall of the New Kingdom. Herodotus claimed that the temple had been founded by Menes
himself, and that the core building of the complex was restricted to priests and kings. His account, however, gives no physical description of the complex. Archaeological work undertaken in the last century has gradually unearthed the temple's ruins, revealing a huge walled compound accessible by several monumental gates located along the southern, western and eastern walls.
The remains of the great temple and its premises are displayed as an open-air museum near the great colossus of Rameses II, which originally marked the southern axis of the temple. Also in this sector is a large sphinx
monolith, discovered in the 19th century. It dates from the 18th dynasty
, most likely having been carved during the reign of either Amenhotep II
or Thutmose IV
. It is one of the finest examples of this kind statuary still present on its original site.
The outdoor museum houses numerous other statues, colossi, sphinxes, and architectural elements. However, the majority of the finds have been sold to major museums around the world. For the most part, these can be found on display in the Egyptian Museum
in Cairo.
The specific appearance of the temple is unclear at present, and only that of the main access to the perimeter are known. Recent developments include the discovery of giant statues which adorned the gates or towers. Those that have been found date from the reign of Ramsses II. This pharaoh also built at least three shrines within the temple compound, where worship is associated with those deities to whom they were dedicated.
Its ruins were discovered in 1942 by archaeologist Ahmed Badawy, and were excavated in 1955 by Rudolf Anthes. The excavations uncovered a religious building complete with a tower, a courtyard for ritual offerings, a portico with columns followed by a pillared hall and a tripartite sanctuary, all enclosed in walls built of mud bricks. Its most recent exterior has been dated from the New Kingdom era.
The temple opened to the east towards a path paved with other religious buildings. The archaeological explorations that took place here reveal that the southern part of the city indeed contain a large number of religious buildings with a particular devotion to the god Ptah, the principal god of Memphis.
, as well as deified Rameses II. Its ruins are not as well preserved as others nearby, as its limestone foundations appear to have been quarried after the abandonment of the city in late antiquity.
Two giant statues, dating from the Middle Kingdom, originally adorned the building's facade, which opened to the west. They were moved inside the Museum of Memphis, and depicted the pharaoh standing in the attitude of the march, wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt, Hedjet
.
, of the 19th dynasty, founded a new shrine in honour of the chief god of the city, Ptah. This temple was discovered in the early 20th century by Flinders Petrie, who identified a depiction of the Greek god Proteus
cited by Herodotus.
The site was excavated during the First World War by Clarence Stanley Fisher. Excavations began in the anterior part, which is formed by a large courtyard of about 15 sq metres, opening on the south by a large door with reliefs supplying the names of the pharaoh and the epithets of Ptah. Only this part of the temple has been unearthed; the remainder of the chamber has yet to be explored a little further north. During the excavations, archaeologists unearthed the first traces of an edifice built of mud brick, which quickly proved to be a large ceremonial palace built alongside the temple proper. Some of the key elements of the stone temple were donated by Egypt to the museum
at the University of Pennsylvania
, which financed the expedition, while the other remained at the Museum in Cairo
.
The temple remained in use throughout the rest of the New Kingdom, as evidenced by enrolment surges during the reigns of later pharaohs. Thereafter, however, it was gradually abandoned and converted for other uses by civilians. Gradually buried by the activity of the city, the stratigraphic study of the site shows that by the Late Period
it is already in ruins and is soon covered by new buildings.
, Lady of the Sycamore, it presents an architecture similar to the small temple-shrines known especially to Karnak
. From its proportions, it does not seem to be major shrine of the goddess, but is currently the only building dedicated to her discovered in the city's ruins.
It is believed that this shrine was primarily used for processional purposes during major religious festivals. A larger temple dedicated to Hathor, indeed one of the foremost shrines of the goddess in the country, is thought to have existed elsewhere in the city, but to date has not been discovered. A depression, similar to that found near the great temple of Ptah, could indicate its location. Archaeologists believe that it could house the remains of an enclosure and a large monument, a theory attested by ancient sources.
, described by Herodotus, was located in the area reserved to the Phoenicians during the time when the Greek author visited the city. The temple of the goddess Neith
was said to have been located to the north of the temple of Ptah. Neither of the latter two has been discovered to date.
Memphis is believed to have housed a number of other temples dedicated to gods who accompanied Ptah. Some of these sanctuaries are attested by ancient hieroglyphs, but have not yet been found among the ruins of the city. Surveys and excavations are still continuing at nearby Mit Rahina, and will likely add to the knowledge of the planning of the ancient religious city.
, consort of Ptah, has not yet been found but is currently certified by Egyptian sources.
It may be located within the precinct of the Hout-ka-Ptah, as would seem to suggest several discoveries made among the ruins of the complex in the late 19th century, including a block of stone evoking the "great door" with the epithet of the goddess, and a column bearing an inscription on behalf of Rameses II declaring him "beloved of Sekhmet". It has also been demonstrated through the Great Harris Papyrus
, which states that a statue of the goddess was made alongside those of Ptah and their son, the god Nefertem
, during the reign of Rameses III, and that it was commissioned for the gods of Memphis at the heart of the great temple.
, considered to be a living manifestation of Ptah. It is detailed in the works of classical historians such as Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo
, but its location has yet to be discovered amidst the ruins of the ancient capital.
According to Herodotus, who described the temple's courtyard as a peristyle
of columns with giant statues, it was built during the reign of Psammetichus I
.
The Greek historian Strabo
visited the site with the conquering Roman troops, following the victory against Cleopatra at Actium
. He details that the temple consisted of two chambers, one for the bull and the other for his mother, and all was built near the temple of Ptah. At the temple, Apis was used as an oracle
, his movements being interpreted as prophecies
. His breath was believed to cure disease, and his presence to bless those around with virility. He was given a window in the temple through which he could be seen, and on certain holidays was led through the streets of the city, bedecked with jewellery and flowers.
In 1941, the archaeologist Ahmed Badawy discovered the first remains in Memphis which depicted the god Apis. The site, located within the grounds of the great temple of Ptah, was revealed to be a mortuary chamber designed exclusively for the embalming
of the sacred bull. A stele
found at Saqqara shows that Nectanebo II
had ordered the restoration of this building, and elements dated from the 30th dynasty
have been unearthed in the northern part of the chamber, confirming the time of reconstruction in this part of the temple. It is likely that the mortuary was part of the larger temple of Apis cited by ancient sources. This sacred part of the temple would be the only part that has survived, and would confirm the words of Strabo and Diodorus, both of whom stated that the temple was located near the temple of Ptah.
The majority of known Apis statues come from the burial chambers known as Serapeum
, located to the northwest at Saqqara. The most ancient burials found at this site date back to the reign of Amenhotep III
.
, a shrine of the great god Amun
was built by Siamun
to the south of the temple of Ptah. This temple (or temples) was most likely dedicated to the Theban Triad
, consisting of Amun, his consort Mut
, and their son Khonsu. It was the Upper Egyptian counterpart of the Memphis Triad (Ptah, Sekhmet, and Nefertem).
in Memphis is attested by hieroglyphs found within the tombs of Memphite dignitaries of the end of the 18th dynasty
, uncovered at Saqqara. Among them, that of Tutankhamun
, who began his career under the reign of Akhenaten
as a "steward of the temple of Aten in Memphis".
Since the early excavations at Memphis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artefacts have been uncovered in different parts of the city that indicate the presence of a building dedicated to the worship of the sun disc
. The location of such a building is lost, and various hypotheses have been made on this subject based on the place of discovery of the remains of the Amarna
period features.
Within the museum in Memphis is a giant statue of the pharaoh carved of monumental limestone
, about 10 metres in length. It was discovered in 1820 near the southern gate of the temple of Ptah by Italian archaeologist Giovanni Caviglia. Because the bottom of the sculpture has been broken off, it is currently displayed lying on its back. Some of the colours are still partially preserved, but the beauty of this statue lies in its flawless detail of the complex and subtle forms of human anatomy. The pharaoh wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, Hedjet
.
Caviglia offered to send the statue to Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II
, through the mediation of Ippolito Rosellini
. Rosellini advised the sovereign of the terrible expenses involved with transportation, and considered as necessary the cutting of the colossus into pieces. The Wāli
and self-declared Khedive
of Egypt and Sudan, Muhammad Ali Pasha
, offered to donate it to the British Museum
, but the museum declined the offer because of the difficult task of shipping the huge statue to London. It therefore remained in the archaeological area of Memphis in the museum built to protect it.
The colossus was one of a pair that historically adorned the eastern entrance to the temple of Ptah. The other
, found in the same year also by Caviglia, was restored in the 1950s to its full standing height of 11 metres. It was first displayed in the Bab Al-Hadid square in Cairo, which was subsequently renamed Ramses Square. Deemed an unsuitable location, it was moved in 2006 to a temporary location in Giza, where it is currently undergoing restoration. It is due to be exhibited at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum
, scheduled to open in 2010. A replica of the statues stands in the suburb of Heliopolis
, in Cairo.
. In addition, the urban area itself consisted of cemeteries that were constructed to the west of the great temple. The sanctity of these places inevitably attracted the devout and the faithful, who sought either to make an offering to Osiris
, or to bury another.
The part of town called Ankh-tawy was already included in the Middle Kingdom necropolis. Expansions of the western sector of the temple of Ptah were ordered by the pharaohs of the 22nd dynasty
, seeking to revive the past glory of the Ramesside age. Within this part of the site was founded a necropolis of the high priests.
According to sources, the site also included a chapel or an oratory to the goddess Bastet, which seems consistent with the presence of monuments of rulers of the dynasty following the Bubastis
. Also in this area were the mortuary temple
s devoted by various New Kingdom pharaohs, whose function is parallelled by Egyptologists to that played by the Temples of a Million years of the Theban pharaohs.
, the successor of Narmer
, the founder of the 1st dynasty
. He built a fortress in Memphis of white walls. Egyptian sources themselves tell of the palaces of the Old Kingdom rulers, some of which were built underneath major royal pyramids. They were immense in size, and were embellished with parks and lakes. In addition to the palaces described below, other sources indicate the existence of a palace founded in the city by Thutmose I
, which was still operating under the reign of Tuthmosis IV.
Merneptah, according to official texts of his reign, ordered the building of a large walled enclosure housing a new temple and adjoining palace. The later pharaoh, Apries
, had a palatial complex constructed on a promontory overlooking the city. It was part of a series of structures built within the temple precinct in the Late Period, and contained a royal palace, a fortress, barracks and armouries. Flinders Petrie excavated the area and found considerable signs of military activity.
and Phoenicians, later Persians
, and finally Greek. The city was indeed located at the crossroads of trade routes and thus attracted goods imported from diverse regions of the Mediterranean.
Ancient texts confirm that city-wide development took place regularly. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Nile
has shifted over the centuries to the east, leaving new lands to occupy the eastern part of the old capital. This area of the city was dominated by the large eastern gate of the temple of Ptah.
, which detail trade conducted between Memphis and the sovereigns of Babylon
and the various city-states of Lebanon
. The proclamations of the later Assyrian kings cite Memphis among its list of conquests.
Subsequently, the city is often cited by other Latin or Greek authors, in rare cases providing an overall description of the city or detailing its cults, as do Suetonius
and Ammianus Marcellinus
, who pay particular attention to the city's worship of Apis. The city was plunged into oblivion during the Christian period that followed, and few sources are available to attest to the city's activities during its final stages.
It was not until the conquest of the country by the Arabs that a description of the city reappears, by which time it was already in ruins. Among the major sources from this time:
, during his trip to Egypt, identified the location of the site and its ruins, confirming the accounts of the old Arab authors for Europe. His description is brief, but represents the first step towards the exploration that will emerge after the development of archaeology. The starting point of archaeological exploration in Memphis was Napoléon Bonaparte's great foray into Egypt in 1798. Research and surveys of the site confirmed the identification of Thévenot, and the first studies of its remains are carried out by scientists accompanying French soldiers. The results of the first scientific studies were published in the monumental Description de l'Égypte
, a map of the region, the first to give the location of Memphis with precision.
During the British era in Egypt, the development of agricultural technology along with the systematic cultivation of the Nile floodplains led to a considerable amount of accidental archaeological discoveries. Much of what was found would fall into the hands of major European collectors travelling the country on behalf of the great museums of London, Paris, Berlin, and Turin
. It was during one of these land cultivations that peasants discovered, accidentally in 1847 near the village of Mit Rahina, elements of a Roman temple of Mithras.
From 1852 to 1854, Joseph Hekekyan, then working for the Egyptian government, conducted geological surveys on the site, and on these occasions made a number of discoveries, such as those at Kom el-Khanzir (northeast of the great temple of Ptah). These stones decorated with reliefs from the Amarna period, originally from the ancient temple of Aten in Memphis, had almost certainly been reused in the foundations of another ruined monument. He also discovered the great colossus of Rameses II
in pink granite.
This spate of archaeological discoveries gave birth to the constant risk of seeing all these cultural riches finally leave Egyptian soil. Auguste-Édouard Mariette, who visited Saqqara in 1850, became aware of the need to create an institution in Egypt responsible for the exploration and conservation of the country's archaeological treasures. He established the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation
(EAO) in 1859, and organised excavations at Memphis which revealed the first evidence of the great temple of Ptah, and uncovered the royal statues of the Old Kingdom.
A timeline listing the main findings:
Aneb-Hetch
Aneb-Hetch was one of 42 nomoi in Ancient Egypt. -Geography:Aneb-Hetch was one of the 20 nomoi in Lower Egypt and had district number 1....
, the first nome
Nome (Egypt)
A nome was a subnational administrative division of ancient Egypt. Today's use of the Greek nome rather than the Egyptian term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic period. Fascinated with Egypt, Greeks created many historical records about the country...
of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. Its ruins are located near the town of Helwan, south of Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
.
According to legend related by Manetho
Manetho
Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic era, approximately during the 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca...
, the city was founded by the pharaoh
Pharaoh
Pharaoh is a title used in many modern discussions of the ancient Egyptian rulers of all periods. The title originates in the term "pr-aa" which means "great house" and describes the royal palace...
Menes
Menes
Menes was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty ....
around 3000 BC. Capital of Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
during the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history
History of the Mediterranean region
The history of the Mediterranean region is the history of the interaction of the cultures and people of the lands surrounding the Mediterranean Sea —the central superhighway of transport, trade and cultural exchange between diverse peoples...
. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta
Nile Delta
The Nile Delta is the delta formed in Northern Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Port Said in the east, it covers some 240 km of Mediterranean coastline—and is a rich...
, and was home to feverish activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.
Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah
Ptah
In Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land, though Tatenen was a god in his...
, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple
Egyptian temple
Egyptian temples were built for the official worship of the gods and commemoration of pharaohs in Ancient Egypt and in regions under Egyptian control. These temples were seen as houses for the gods or kings to whom they were dedicated...
, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka
Egyptian soul
The ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body...
of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.
The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country
History of Ancient Egypt
The History of Ancient Egypt spans the period from the early predynastic settlements of the northern Nile Valley to the Roman conquest in 30 BC...
itself. Its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica
Edict of Thessalonica
The Edict of Thessalonica, also known as Cunctos populos, was delivered on 27 February 380 by Theodosius I, Gratian, and Valentinian II in order that all their subjects should profess the faith of the bishops of Rome and Alexandria...
.
The ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its magnificent past. They have been preserved, along with the pyramid complex at Giza
Giza pyramid complex
The Giza Necropolis is an archaeological site on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. This complex of ancient monuments includes the three pyramid complexes known as the Great Pyramids, the massive sculpture known as the Great Sphinx, several cemeteries, a workers' village and an...
, as a World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
since 1979. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.
Toponymy
Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient EgyptianEgyptian language
Egyptian is the oldest known indigenous language of Egypt and a branch of the Afroasiatic language family. Written records of the Egyptian language have been dated from about 3400 BC, making it one of the oldest recorded languages known. Egyptian was spoken until the late 17th century AD in the...
name was Inebou-Hedjou.(translated as "the white walls").
Because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were actually the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period
First Intermediate Period of Egypt
The First Intermediate Period, often described as a “dark period” in ancient Egyptian history, spanned approximately one hundred years after the end of the Old Kingdom from ca. 2181-2055 BC. It included the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, and part of the eleventh dynasties. Very little monumental...
, it was known Djed-Sut ("everlasting places"), which is the name of the pyramid of Teti
Pyramid of Teti
The Pyramid complex of Teti is located in the pyramid field at Saqqara, in Egypt. It was originally called Teti's places are enduring. The preservation above ground is very poor, and it now resembles a small hill. Below ground the chambers and corridors are very well preserved.-Below Ground:The...
.
The city was also at one point referred to as Ankh-Tawy (meaning "Life of the Two Lands"), stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper
Upper Egypt
Upper Egypt is the strip of land, on both sides of the Nile valley, that extends from the cataract boundaries of modern-day Aswan north to the area between El-Ayait and Zawyet Dahshur . The northern section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Sohag is sometimes known as Middle Egypt...
and Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the fertile Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom
Middle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
(c. 2055–1640 BCE), and is frequently found in ancient Egyptian texts. Some scholars maintain that this name was actually that of the western district of the city that lay between the great Temple of Ptah and the necropolis at Saqqara
Saqqara
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...
, an area that contained a sacred tree.
At the beginning of the New Kingdom
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
(c. 1550 BCE), the city became known as Men-nefer (meaning "enduring and beautiful"), which became Menfe in Coptic
Coptic language
Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the current stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century. Egyptian began to be written using the Greek alphabet in the 1st century...
. The name "Memphis" is the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
corruption of this name, which was originally the name of the pyramid of Pepi I
Mortuary complex of Pepi I
The mortuary complex of Pepi I is situated in the southern archaeological complex of Saqqara, Egypt. It was excavated in the 1960s by the French Archaeological Mission of Saqqara which, all around the main pharaoh's pyramid, discovered about ten new pyramids for the queens and family of this...
, located west of the city.
The Egyptian historian Manetho referred to Memphis as Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka
Egyptian soul
The ancient Egyptians believed that a human soul was made up of five parts: the Ren, the Ba, the Ka, the Sheut, and the Ib. In addition to these components of the soul there was the human body...
of Ptah"), which he approximated in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos), from which derives the Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
AEGYPTVS and the modern English name of Egypt. The term Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
is also believed to be etymologically derived from this name.
In the Bible, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.
Location
The city of Memphis is 20 km (12.4 mi) south of CairoCairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, on the west bank of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur
Dahshur
Dahshur , is a royal necropolis located in the desert on the west bank of the Nile approximately 40 kilometres south of Cairo...
, Abusir
Abusir
Abusir is the name given to an Egyptian archaeological locality – specifically, an extensive necropolis of the Old Kingdom period, together with later additions – in the vicinity of the modern capital Cairo...
, Abu Gorab
Abu Gorab
Abu Gurab is a sun temple built by the people of ancient Egypt. It was excavated by Egyptologists between 1898 and 1901 by Ludwig Borchardt on behalf of the Berlin Museum and is located near the city of Memphis...
, and Zawyet el'Aryan
Zawyet el'Aryan
Zawyet el-Aryan is a town in Egypt, located between Giza and Abusir. To the west of the town, just in the desert area, is a necropolis, referred to by the same name. Almost directly east across the Nile is Memphis. In Zawyet el-Aryan, there are 2 pyramid complexes.* The Layer Pyramid was built in...
, south of Cairo, all lie within the administrative borders of historical Memphis (29°50′58.8"N 31°15′15.4"E). The city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper and Lower Egypt. (The 22nd nome of Upper Egypt and 1st nome of Lower Egypt).
Population
The site of the city is today uninhabited. The closest settlement is the town of Mit Rahina. Estimates of historical population size differ widely between sources. According to T. Chandler, Memphis had some 30,000 inhabitants and was by far the largest settlement worldwide from the time of its foundation until around 2250 BCE and from 1557 to 1400 BCE. K. A. Bard is more cautious and estimates the city's population to have amounted to about 6,000 inhabitants during the Old Kingdom.History
Memphis became the capital of Ancient Egypt for over eight consecutive dynasties during the Old Kingdom. The city reached a peak of prestige under the 6th dynastySixth dynasty of Egypt
The sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and V under the group title the Old Kingdom.-Pharaohs:...
as a centre for the worship of Ptah
Ptah
In Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land, though Tatenen was a god in his...
, the god of creation and artworks. The alabaster sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former power and prestige. The Memphis triad
Triple deities
A triple deity is a deity associated with the number three. Such deities are common throughout world mythology; the number three has a long history of mythical associations. C. G...
, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his consort Sekhmet
Sekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet , was originally the warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing for Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert...
, and their son Nefertem
Nefertem
In Egyptian mythology, Nefertem was originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem represented both the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus...
, formed the main focus of worship in the city.
Memphis declined briefly after the 18th dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
with the rise of Thebes
Thebes, Egypt
Thebes is the Greek name for a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile within the modern city of Luxor. The Theban Necropolis is situated nearby on the west bank of the Nile.-History:...
and the New Kingdom, and was revived under the Persians before falling firmly into second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important city. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641 CE. It was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon became a little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.
Legendary history
The legend recorded by Manetho was that MenesMenes
Menes was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty ....
, the first pharaoh to unite the Two Lands
Upper and Lower Egypt
Ancient Egypt was divided into two regions, namely Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. To the north was Lower Egypt where the Nile stretched out with its several branches to form the Nile Delta. To the south was Upper Egypt, stretching to Syene. The two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united c....
, established his capital on the banks of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
by diverting the river with dikes. The Greek historian Herodotus
Herodotus
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, who tells a similar story, relates that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point the suzerains
Suzerainty
Suzerainty occurs where a region or people is a tributary to a more powerful entity which controls its foreign affairs while allowing the tributary vassal state some limited domestic autonomy. The dominant entity in the suzerainty relationship, or the more powerful entity itself, is called a...
of the country, paid particular attention to the condition of these dams so that the city was saved from the annual flooding
Flooding of the Nile
has been an important natal cycle in Egypt since ancient times. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting August 15, known as Wafaa El-Nil. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, hence the name, Esba`...
. Herodotus dates the founding of the city at around 3100 BC, over 2500 years prior to his visit.
It has been theorised that Menes was possibly a mythical king, similar to Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder...
of Rome. Some scholars suggest that Egypt most likely became unified through mutual need, developing cultural ties and trading partnerships, although that the first capital of united Egypt was the city of Memphis is undisputed. Egyptologists have also identified the legendary Menes with the historical Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
, who is represented in the Palette of Narmer conquering the Nile delta in Lower Egypt and establishing himself as pharaoh. This palette has been dated to ca. 31st century BCE, and would thus correlate with the story of Egypt's unification by Menes.
Old Kingdom
Little is known about the city of the Old KingdomOld Kingdom
Old Kingdom is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley .The term itself was...
. It was the state capital of the godlike pharaohs, who reigned from Memphis from the date of the 1st dynasty
First dynasty of Egypt
The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the Dynasty II under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt...
. During the earliest years of the reign of Menes, according to Manetho, the seat of power was further to the south, at Thinis
Thinis
Thinis or This was the capital city of the first dynasties of ancient Egypt. Thinis is, as yet, undiscovered but well attested to by ancient writers, including the classical historian Manetho, who cites it as the centre of the Thinite Confederacy, a tribal confederation whose leader, Menes ,...
.
According to Manetho, ancient sources suggest the "white walls" (Ineb-hedj) were founded by Menes. Referred to in some texts as the "Fortress of the White Wall", it is likely that the king established himself here to better control this new union between the two rival kingdoms. The complex of Djoser
Pyramid of Djoser
The Pyramid of Djoser , or step pyramid is an archeological remain in the Saqqara necropolis, Egypt, northwest of the city of Memphis. It was built during the 27th century BC for the burial of Pharaoh Djoser by Imhotep, his vizier...
of the 3rd dynasty
Third dynasty of Egypt
For the Sumerian Renaissance, see Third Dynasty of Ur.The Third Dynasty of ancient Egypt is the first dynasty of the Old Kingdom. Other dynasties of the Old Kingdom include the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth...
, located in the ancient necropolis at Saqqara
Saqqara
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...
, would then be the royal funerary chamber, housing all the elements necessary to royalty: temples, shrines, ceremonial courts, and palaces barracks.
The golden age
Golden Age
The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology and legend and refers to the first in a sequence of four or five Ages of Man, in which the Golden Age is first, followed in sequence, by the Silver, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and then the present, a period of decline...
began with the 4th dynasty
Fourth dynasty of Egypt
The fourth dynasty of ancient Egypt is characterized as a "golden age" of the Old Kingdom. Dynasty IV lasted from ca. 2613 to 2494 BC...
, which seems to have furthered the primary role of Memphis as a royal residence where rulers received the double crown
Pschent
The Pschent was the name of the Double Crown of Ancient Egypt. The Ancient Egyptians generally referred to it as sekhemti , the Two Powerful Ones. It combined the Red Deshret Crown of Lower Egypt and the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt....
, the divine manifestation of the unification of the Two Lands. Coronations and jubilees such as the Sed festival
Sed festival
The Sed festival was an ancient Egyptian ceremony that celebrated the continued rule of a pharaoh...
were celebrated in the temple of Ptah. The earliest signs of such ceremonies were found in the chambers of Djoser.
It was also during this period that developed the clergy of the temple of Ptah. The importance of the shrine is attested in this period with payments of food and other goods necessary for the funerary rites of royal and noble dignitaries. This shrine is also cited in the annals preserved on the Palermo Stone
Palermo stone
The Palermo Stone is a large fragment of a stele known as the Royal Annals of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. It contains records of the kings of Egypt from the first dynasty through the fifth dynasty....
, and beginning from the reign of Menkaura
Menkaura
Menkaure was a pharaoh of the Fourth dynasty of Egypt who ordered the construction of the third and smallest of the Pyramids of Giza. His name means "Eternal like the Souls of Re"...
, we know the names of the high priests
High Priest of Ptah
The High Priest of Ptah was sometimes referred to as the Greatest of the Masters of the Craftsmen . This title refers to Ptah as the patron god of the craftsmen.The office of the High Priest of Ptah was located in Memphis...
of Memphis that seem to work in pairs at least until the reign of Teti
Teti
Teti, less commonly known as Othoes, was the first Pharaoh of the Sixth dynasty of Egypt and is buried at Saqqara. The exact length of his reign has been destroyed on the Turin King List, but is believed to have been about 12 years.-Biography:...
.
The architecture of this period was similar to that seen at Giza, royal necropolis of the Fourth dynasty, where recent excavations have revealed that the essential focus of the kingdom at that time centred on the construction of the royal tomb. A strong suggestion of this notion is the etymology of the name of the city itself, which matched that of the pyramid of Pepi I of the 6th dynasty
Sixth dynasty of Egypt
The sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties III, IV and V under the group title the Old Kingdom.-Pharaohs:...
. Memphis was then the heir to a long artistic and architectural practice, constantly encouraged by the monuments of preceding reigns.
All these necropoleis were surrounded by camps inhabited by craftsmen and labourers, dedicated exclusively to the construction of royal tombs. Spread over several kilometres stretching in all directions, Memphis formed a true megalopolis
Megalopolis (city type)
A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...
, with temples connected by sacred temenos
Temenos
Temenos is a piece of land cut off and assigned as an official domain, especially to kings and chiefs, or a piece of land marked off from common uses and dedicated to a god, a sanctuary, holy grove or holy precinct: The Pythian race-course is called a temenos, the sacred valley of the Nile is the ...
, and ports connected by roadways and canals. The perimeter of the city thus gradually extended into a vast urban sprawl. Its centre remained around the temple complex of Ptah.
Middle Kingdom
In the beginning of the Middle KingdomMiddle Kingdom of Egypt
The Middle Kingdom of Egypt is the period in the history of ancient Egypt stretching from the establishment of the Eleventh Dynasty to the end of the Fourteenth Dynasty, between 2055 BC and 1650 BC, although some writers include the Thirteenth and Fourteenth dynasties in the Second Intermediate...
, the capital and court of the pharaoh had moved to Thebes in the south, leaving Memphis for a time in the shade. Although the seat of political power had been shifted, however, Memphis remained perhaps the most important commercial and artistic centre, as evidenced by the discovery of handicrafts districts and cemeteries, located west of the temple of Ptah.
Also found were vestiges attesting to the architectural focus of this time. A large granite offering table on behalf of Amenemhat I
Amenemhat I
Amenemhat I, also Amenemhet I, was the first ruler of the Twelfth Dynasty . He ruled from 1991 BC to 1962 BC...
mentioned the erection by the king of a shrine to the god Ptah, master of Truth. Other blocks registered in the name of Amenemhat II
Amenemhat II
Nubkhaure Amenemhat II was the third pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Not much is known about his reign. He ruled Egypt for 35 years from 1929 BC to 1895 BC and was the son of Senusret I through the latter's chief wife, Queen Nefru. His queen is not known; although recently a...
were found to be used as foundations for large monoliths preceding the pylons of Rameses II. These kings were also known to have ordered mining expeditions, raids or military campaigns beyond the borders, erecting monuments or statues to the consecration of deities, evinced by a panel recording official acts of the royal court during this time. In the ruins of the Temple of Ptah, a block in the name of Senusret II
Senusret II
Khakeperre Senusret II was the fourth pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. He ruled from 1897 BC to 1878 BC. His pyramid was constructed at El-Lahun...
bears an inscription indicating an architectural commission as a gift to the gods of Memphis. Moreover, many statues found at the site, later restored by the New Kingdom pharaohs, are attributed to pharaohs of the 12th dynasty
Twelfth dynasty of Egypt
The twelfth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XIII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom.-Rulers:Known rulers of the twelfth dynasty are as follows :...
. Examples include the two stone giants that have been recovered amidst the temple ruins, which were later restored under the name of Rameses II.
Finally, according to the tradition recorded by Herodotus and Diodorus
Diodorus Siculus
Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
, Amenemhet III built the northern gate of the Temple of Ptah. Remains attributed to this pharaoh were indeed found during the excavations in this area conducted by Flinders Petrie, who confirmed the connection. It is also worth noting that, during this time, mastaba
Mastaba
A mastaba, or "pr-djt" , is a type of ancient Egyptian tomb in the form of a flat-roofed, rectangular structure with outward sloping sides that marked the burial site of many eminent Egyptians of Egypt's ancient period...
s of the high priests of Ptah were constructed near the royal pyramids at Saqqara, showing that the royalty and the clergy of Memphis at that time were closely linked. The 13th dynasty
Thirteenth dynasty of Egypt
The thirteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is often combined with Dynasties XI, XII and XIV under the group title Middle Kingdom. Other writers separate it from these dynasties and join it to Dynasties XIV through XVII as part of the Second Intermediate Period...
continued this trend, and some pharaohs of this line were buried at Saqqara, attesting that Memphis retained its place at the heart of the monarchy.
With the invasion of the Hyksos
Hyksos
The Hyksos were an Asiatic people who took over the eastern Nile Delta during the twelfth dynasty, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of ancient Egypt....
, and their rise to power ca. 1650 BC, the city of Memphis came under siege. Following its capture, many monuments and statues of the ancient capital and were dismantled, looted or damaged by the Hyksos kings, who later carried them to adorn their new capital at Avaris
Avaris
Avaris , capital of Egypt under the Hyksos , was located near modern Tell el-Dab'a in the northeastern region of the Nile Delta, at the juncture of the 8th, 14th, 19th and 20th Nomes...
. Evidence of royal propaganda has been uncovered and attributed to the Theban kings of the 17th dynasty
Seventeenth dynasty of Egypt
The Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Second Intermediate Period. The Seventeenth Dynasty dates approximately from 1580 to 1550 BC.-Rulers:...
, who initiated the reconquest of the kingdom half a century later.
New Kingdom
The 18th dynastyEighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
thus opened with the victory over the invaders by the Thebans. Although the reigns of Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities...
and Thutmose IV
Thutmose IV
Thutmose IV was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately the 14th century BC...
saw considerable royal focus in Memphis, power remained for the most part in the south. With the long period of peace that followed, prosperity again took hold of the city, which benefited from her strategic position. Strengthening trade ties with other empires meant that the port of Peru-nefer (literally means "Bon Voyage") became the gateway to the kingdom for neighbouring regions, including Byblos
Byblos
Byblos is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal . It is a Mediterranean city in the Mount Lebanon Governorate of present-day Lebanon under the current Arabic name of Jubayl and was also referred to as Gibelet during the Crusades...
and the Levant
Levant
The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...
.
In the New Kingdom
New Kingdom
The New Kingdom of Egypt, also referred to as the Egyptian Empire is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt....
, Memphis became a centre for the education of royal princes and the sons of the nobility. Amenhotep II, born and raised in Memphis, was made the setem—the high priest over Lower Egypt—during the reign of his father. His son, Thutmose IV received his famed and recorded dream
Dream Stele
The Dream Stele of Thutmose IV was erected in the first year of his reign, 1401 BC. Also called the Sphinx Stele, it is claimed to be like other New Kingdom pharaohs, a divine legitimisation to pharaohship.-Text:Partial text:-Stele description:...
whilst residing as a young prince in Memphis. During his exploration of the site, Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius
Karl Richard Lepsius was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology.-Background:...
identified a series of blocks and broken colonnades in the name of Thutmose IV to the east of the Temple of Ptah. They had to belong to a royal building, most likely a ceremonial palace.
It was also during the 18th dynasty that would date the founding of the temple of Astarte
Astarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
, which Herodotus mistakes as being dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite
Aphrodite
Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love, beauty, pleasure, and procreation.Her Roman equivalent is the goddess .Historically, her cult in Greece was imported from, or influenced by, the cult of Astarte in Phoenicia....
. It has been attributed to the reign of Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
. The greatest work of this pharaoh in Memphis, however, was a temple called "Nebmaatra united with Ptah", which is cited by many sources from the period of his reign, including artefacts listing the works of Huy
Amenhotep (Huy)
Amenhotep was the high steward of Memphis under Amenhotep III in the Egyptian 18th Dynasty. With this title he was one of the highest officials at the royal court. Amenhotep, with the nickname Huy, was a member of an influential family. His father Heby was mayor of Memphis. His brother Ramose was...
, the High Steward of Memphis. The location of this temple has not been precisely determined, but a number of its brown quartzite blocks were found to have been reused by Rameses II for the construction of the small temple of Ptah. This leads some Egyptologists to suggest that the latter temple had been built over the site of the first.
According to inscriptions found in Memphis, Akhenaten
Akhenaten
Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
founded a temple of Aten
Aten
Aten is the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally an aspect of Ra. The deified Aten is the focus of the monolatristic, henotheistic, or monotheistic religion of Atenism established by Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten in worship in recognition of Aten...
in the city. The burial chamber of one of the priests of this cult has been uncovered at Saqqara. His successor Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
relocated the royal court from Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
to Memphis before the end of the second year of his reign. Whilst in Memphis, Tutankhamun initiated a period of restoration of the temples and traditions following the monotheistic era of Atenism
Atenism
Atenism, or the Amarna heresy, refers to the religious changes associated with the eighteenth dynasty Pharaoh Amenophis IV, better known under his adopted name, Akhenaten...
, which was regarded as heresy
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. The tombs of important officials from his reign, such as Horemheb
Horemheb
Horemheb was the last Pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty from either 1319 BC to late 1292 BC, or 1306 to late 1292 BC although he was not related to the preceding royal family and is believed to have been of common birth.Before he became pharaoh, Horemheb was the commander in chief...
and Maya
Maya (Egyptian)
Maya was the Overseer of the Treasury during the reign of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, Ay and Horemheb of the eighteenth dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He was also an important official and was noted for restoring the burials of several earlier Pharaohs in the Royal Necropolis in the years following the deaths...
, are situated in Saqqara, although Horemheb was eventually buried in the Valley of the Kings
Valley of the Kings
The Valley of the Kings , less often called the Valley of the Gates of the Kings , is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the Pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom .The valley stands on the west bank of...
after reigning as pharaoh himself.
There is evidence that, under Rameses II, the city developed new importance in the political sphere through its proximity to the new capital Pi-Rameses
Pi-Ramesses
Pi-Ramesses was the new capital built by the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt Pharaoh Ramesses II at Qantir near the old site of Avaris. The city had previously served as a summer palace under Seti I and may have been originally founded by Ramesses I Pi-Ramesses (Pi-Ramesses Aa-nakhtu, meaning...
. The pharaoh devoted many monuments in Memphis and adorned them with colossal symbols of glory. Merneptah
Merneptah
Merneptah was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years between late July or early August 1213 and May 2, 1203 BC, according to contemporary historical records...
, his successor, constructed a palace and developed the southeast wall of the temple of Ptah. For the early part of the 19th dynasty
Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt
The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, this dynasty is best known for its military conquests in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.The warrior kings of the...
, Memphis received the privileges of royal attention, and it is this dynasty that is most evident among the ruins of the city today.
With the 21st
Twenty-first dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
and 22nd dynasties
Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
, we see a continuation of the religious development initiated by Rameses. Memphis does not seem to suffer a decline during the Third Intermediate Period
Third Intermediate Period of Egypt
The Third Intermediate Period refers to the time in Ancient Egypt from the death of Pharaoh Ramesses XI in 1070 BC to the foundation of the Twenty-Sixth Dynasty by Psamtik I in 664 BC, following the expulsion of the Nubian rulers of the Twenty-Fifth Dynasty....
, which saw great changes in the geopolitics of the country. Instead it is likely that the pharaohs worked to develop the Memphite cult in their new capital of Tanis
Tanis, Egypt
Tanis , the Greek name of ancient Djanet , is a city in the north-eastern Nile delta of Egypt. It is located on the Tanitic branch of the Nile which has long since silted up.-History:...
, to the northeast. In light of some remains found at the site, it is known that a temple of Ptah was based there. Siamun
Siamun
Neterkheperre or Netjerkheperre-setepenamun Siamun was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt during the Twenty-first dynasty. He built extensively in Lower Egypt for a king of the Third Intermediate Period and is regarded as one of the most powerful rulers of this Dynasty after Psusennes I...
is cited as having built a temple dedicated to Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
, the remains of which were found by Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century, in the south of the temple of Ptah complex.
According to inscriptions describing his architectural work, Sheshonk I, founder of the 22nd dynasty, constructed a forecourt and pylon of the temple of Ptah, a monument which he called the "Castle of Millions of Years of Sheshonk, Beloved of Amun". The funerary cult surrounding this monument, well known in the New Kingdom, was still functioning several generations after its establishment at the temple, leading some scholars to suggest that it may have contained the royal burial chamber of the pharaoh himself. Sheshonk also ordered the building of a new shrine for the god Apis
Apis (Egyptian mythology)
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom...
, especially devoted to funeral ceremonies in which the bull was led to his death to be ritually mummified.
A necropolis for the high priests of Memphis dating precisely from the 22nd dynasty has been found west of the forum. It included a chapel dedicated to Ptah by a prince Shoshenq
Shoshenq D
Shoshenq was a High Priest of Ptah during the 22nd dynasty. Shoshenq was the eldest son of Osorkon II and Queen Karomama. He presided over the burial of the twenty-seventh Apis bull in Saqqara. Shoshenq was buried in Saqqara. His tomb was found in 1942....
, son of Osorkon II
Osorkon II
Usermaatre Setepenamun Osorkon II was a pharaoh of the Twenty-second Dynasty of Ancient Egypt and the son of Takelot I and Queen Kapes. He ruled Egypt around 872 BC to 837 BC from Tanis, the capital of this Dynasty. After succeeding his father, he was faced with the competing rule of his cousin,...
, whose tomb was found in Saqqara in 1942. The chapel is currently visible in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....
in Cairo, behind a trio of colossi of Rameses II, which are also from Memphis.
Late Period
During the Third Intermediate Period and the Late PeriodLate Period of Ancient Egypt
The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
, Memphis is often the scene of liberation struggles of the local dynasties against an occupying force, such as the Kushites, Assyrians and Persians.
The triumphant campaign of Piankhi
Piye
Piye, was a Kushite king and founder of the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt who ruled Egypt from 747 BCE to 716 BCE according to Peter Clayton. He ruled from the city of Napata, located deep in Nubia, Sudan...
, ruler of the Kushites
Kingdom of Kush
The native name of the Kingdom was likely kaš, recorded in Egyptian as .The name Kash is probably connected to Cush in the Hebrew Bible , son of Ham ....
, saw the establishment of the 25th dynasty
Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt
The twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt, known as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire, was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt....
, whose seat of power was in Napata
Napata
Napata was a city-state of ancient Nubia on the west bank of the Nile River, at the site of modern Karima, Northern Sudan.During the 8th to 7th centuries BC, Napata was the capital of the Nubian kingdom of Kush, whence the 25th, or Nubian Dynasty conquered Egypt...
. Piankhi's conquest of Egypt was recorded on the Victory Stele at the Temple of Amun in Gebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal
Jebel Barkal or Gebel Barkal is a very small mountain located some 400 km north of Khartoum, in Karima town in Northern State in Sudan, on a large bend of the Nile River, in the region called Nubia....
. Following the capture of Memphis, he restored the temples and cults neglected during the reign of the Libyans
Twenty-fourth dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
. His successors are known for building for chapels in the southwest corner of the temple of Ptah.
Memphis became at the heart of the turmoil produced by the great Assyrian threat. Under Taharqa
Taharqa
Taharqa was a pharaoh of the Ancient Egyptian 25th dynasty and king of the Kingdom of Kush, which was located in Northern Sudan.Taharqa was the son of Piye, the Nubian king of Napata who had first conquered Egypt. Taharqa was also the cousin and successor of Shebitku. The successful campaigns of...
, the city formed the frontier base of the resistance, which soon crumbled as the Kushite king was driven back into Nubia
Nubia
Nubia is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.There were a number of small Nubian kingdoms throughout the Middle Ages, the last of which collapsed in 1504, when Nubia became divided between Egypt and the Sennar sultanate resulting in the Arabization...
. The Assyrian king Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon , was a king of Assyria who reigned 681 – 669 BC. He was the youngest son of Sennacherib and the Aramean queen Naqi'a , Sennacherib's second wife....
, supported by some of the native Egyptian princes, captured Memphis in 671 BCE. His forces sacked and raided the city, slaughtered villagers and erected piles of their heads. Esarhaddon returned to his capital Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
with rich booty, and erected a victory stele showing the son of Taharqa in chains. Almost as soon as the king left, Egypt rebelled against Assyrian rule.
In Assyria, Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal |Ashur]] is creator of an heir"; 685 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
succeeded his father and resumed the offensive against Egypt. In a massive invasion in 664 BCE, the city of Memphis was again sacked and looted, and the king Tantamani
Tantamani
Tantamani or Tanwetamani or Tementhes was a Pharaoh of Egypt and the Kingdom of Kush located in Northern Sudan and a member of the Nubian or Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt...
was pursued into Nubia and defeated, putting a definitive end to the Kushite reign over Egypt. Power then returned to the Saite pharaohs
Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC . The Dynasty's reign The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt (also written Dynasty XXVI or Dynasty 26) was the last native dynasty to rule Egypt before the Persian conquest in 525 BC...
, who, fearful of an invasion from the Babylonians
Neo-Babylonian Empire
The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 626 BC and ended in 539 BC. During the preceding three centuries, Babylonia had been ruled by their fellow Akkadian speakers and northern neighbours, Assyria. Throughout that time Babylonia...
, reconstructed and even fortified structures in the city, as is attested by the palace built by Apries
Apries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
.
Under the Persians, structures in the city were preserved and strengthened, and Memphis was made the administrative headquarters of the newly conquered satrap
Satrap
Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of the ancient Median and Achaemenid Empires and in several of their successors, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic empires....
y. A Persian garrison was permanently installed within the city, probably in the great north wall, near the domineering palace of Apries. The excavations by Flinders Petrie revealed that this sector included armouries. For almost a century and a half, the city remained the capital of the Egyptian satrapy, officially becoming one of the epicentres of commerce in the vast territory conquered by the Achaemenid monarchy.
The steles dedicated to Apis in the Serapeum at Saqqara, commissioned by the reigning monarch, represent a key element in understanding the events of this period. As in the Late Period, the catacombs in which the remains of the sacred bulls were buried gradually grew in size, and later took on a monumental appearance that confirms the growth of the cult's hypostases throughout the country, and particularly in Memphis and its necropolis. Thus, a monument dedicated by Cambyses II seems to refute the testimony of Herodotus, who lends the conquerors a criminal attitude of disrespect against the sacred traditions.
The nationalist awakening came with the rise to power, however briefly, of Amyrtaeus
Amyrtaeus
Amyrtaeus of Sais is the only king of the Twenty-eighth dynasty of Egypt and is thought to be related to the royal family of the Twenty-sixth dynasty...
in 404 BCE, who ended the Persian occupation. He was defeated and executed at Memphis in October of 399 BCE by Nepherites I, founder of the 29th dynasty
Twenty-ninth dynasty of Egypt
Nepherites I founded the Twenty-ninth Dynasty of ancient Egypt by defeating Amyrtaeus in open battle, and later putting him to death at Memphis. Nepherites made his capital at Mendes...
. The execution was recorded in an Aramaic papyrus document (Papyrus Brooklyn 13). Nepherites moved the capital to Mendes
Mendes
Mendes , the Greek name of the Ancient Egyptian city of Djedet, also known in Ancient Egypt as Per-Banebdjedet and Anpet, is known today as Tell El-Ruba ....
, in the eastern delta, and Memphis lost its status in the political sphere. It retained, however, its religious, commercial, and strategic importance, and was instrumental in resisting Persian attempts to reconquer Egypt.
Under Nectanebo I
Nectanebo I
Nectanabo was a pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt.In 380 BC, Nectanebo deposed and killed Nefaarud II, starting the last dynasty of Egyptian kings. He seems to have spent much of his reign defending his kingdom from Persian reconquest with the occasional help of troops from Athens or Sparta...
, a major rebuilding program was initiated for temples across the country. In Memphis, a powerful new wall was rebuilt for the Temple of Ptah, and developments were made to temples and chapels inside the complex. Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt. Under Nectanebo II Egypt prospered...
meanwhile, while continuing the work of his predecessor, began building large sanctuaries, especially in the necropolis of Saqqara, adorning them with pylons, statues and paved roads lined with rows of sphinxes. Despite his efforts to prevent the recovery of the country by the Persians, he succumbed to a massive invasion in 343 BCE, and was defeated at Pelusium
Pelusium
Pelusium was a city in the eastern extremes of Egypt's Nile Delta, 30 km to the southeast of the modern Port Said. Alternative names include Sena and Per-Amun , Pelousion , Sin , Seyân , and Tell el-Farama...
. Nectanebo II retreated south to Memphis, to which the emperor Artaxerxes III laid siege, forcing the pharaoh to flee to Upper Egypt, and eventually to Nubia.
A brief liberation of the city under the rebel-king Khababash
Khabash
Khabash, also Khababash or Chababash, resided at Sais in the fifth nome of Lower Egypt in the fourth century BC. During the second Persian occupation of Egypt he led a revolt against the Persian rule in concert with his eldest son, from ca. 338 to 335 BC , a few years before the conquest of...
(338 to 335 BCE) is evinced by an Apis bull sarcophagus bearing his name, which was discovered at Saqqara dating from his second year. The armies of Darius III eventually regained control of the city.
Memphis under the Late Period saw recurring invasions followed by successive liberations. Several times besieged, it was the scene of several of the bloodiest battles in the history of the country. Despite the support of their Greek allies in undermining the hegemony of the Achaemenids, the country nevertheless fell into the hands of the conquerors, and Memphis was never again to become the nation's capital. In 332 BCE came the Greeks, who took control of the country from the Persians, and Egypt would never see a new native dynasty ascend the pharaoh's throne.
Ptolemaic Period
In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great was crowned pharaoh in the Temple of Ptah, ushering in the Hellenistic period. The city retained a significant status, especially religious, throughout the period following the takeover by one of his generals, Ptolemy. On the death of Alexander in Babylon (323 BCE), Ptolemy took great pains in acquiring his body and bringing it to Memphis. Claiming that the king himself had officially expressed a desire to be buried in Egypt, he then carried the body of Alexander to the heart of the temple of Ptah, and had him embalmed by the priests. By custom, kings in MacedonMacedon
Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....
asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. Ptolemy II
Ptolemy II Philadelphus
Ptolemy II Philadelphus was the king of Ptolemaic Egypt from 283 BCE to 246 BCE. He was the son of the founder of the Ptolemaic kingdom Ptolemy I Soter and Berenice, and was educated by Philitas of Cos...
later transferred the sarcophagus
Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus is a funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved or cut from stone. The word "sarcophagus" comes from the Greek σαρξ sarx meaning "flesh", and φαγειν phagein meaning "to eat", hence sarkophagus means "flesh-eating"; from the phrase lithos sarkophagos...
to Alexandria, where a royal tomb was constructed for its burial. The exact location of the tomb has been lost since then. According to Aelian
Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus , often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222...
, the seer Aristander
Aristander
Aristander of Telmessos , a Greek from Caria, was Alexander the Great's favorite seer. Aristander was already in Philip's entourage in 357/6, when he correctly interpreted a dream as revealing Olympias' pregnancy. The ancient sources place him interpreting omens from the conqueror's birth to his...
foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".
Thus began the Ptolemaic dynasty
Ptolemaic dynasty
The Ptolemaic dynasty, was a Macedonian Greek royal family which ruled the Ptolemaic Empire in Egypt during the Hellenistic period. Their rule lasted for 275 years, from 305 BC to 30 BC...
, during which began the city's gradual decline. It was Ptolemy I who first introduced the cult of Serapis
Serapis
Serapis or Sarapis is a Graeco-Egyptian name of God. Serapis was devised during the 3rd century BC on the orders of Ptolemy I of Egypt as a means to unify the Greeks and Egyptians in his realm. The god was depicted as Greek in appearance, but with Egyptian trappings, and combined iconography...
in Egypt, establishing his cult in Saqqara. From this period date many developments of the Saqqara Serapeum, including the building of the Chamber of Poets, as well as the dromos adorning the temple, and many elements of Greek-inspired architecture. The cult's reputation extended beyond the borders of the country, but was later eclipsed by the great Alexandrian Serapeum, built in Ptolemy's honour by his successors.
The Decrees of Memphis
Ptolemaic Decrees
The Hellenistic Ptolemaic dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 305 BC to 30 BC, issued these series of decrees over the course of their reign. The Rosetta Stone is a well-known example of one of the decrees....
were issued in 216 and 196 BCE, by Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V respectively. Delegates from the principal clergies of the kingdom gathered in synod
Synod
A synod historically is a council of a church, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. In modern usage, the word often refers to the governing body of a particular church, whether its members are meeting or not...
, under the patronage of the High Priest of Ptah and in the presence of the pharaoh, to establish the religious policy of country for years to come, also dictating fees and taxes, creating new foundations, and paying tribute to the Ptolemaic rulers. These decrees were engraved on stelae
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
in three scripts to be read and understood by all: Demotic
Demotic (Egyptian)
Demotic refers to either the ancient Egyptian script derived from northern forms of hieratic used in the Delta, or the stage of the Egyptian language following Late Egyptian and preceding Coptic. The term was first used by the Greek historian Herodotus to distinguish it from hieratic and...
, hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs
Egyptian hieroglyphs were a formal writing system used by the ancient Egyptians that combined logographic and alphabetic elements. Egyptians used cursive hieroglyphs for religious literature on papyrus and wood...
, and Greek. The most famous of these stelae is the Rosetta Stone
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele inscribed with a decree issued at Memphis in 196 BC on behalf of King Ptolemy V. The decree appears in three scripts: the upper text is Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle portion Demotic script, and the lowest Ancient Greek...
, which allowed the deciphering of ancient Egyptian script in the 19th century.
They were other stelae, funerary this time, discovered on the site that have forwarded knowledge of the genealogy of the higher clergy of Memphis, a dynasty of high priests of Ptah. The lineage retained strong ties with the royal family in Alexandria, to the extent that marriages occurred between certain high priests and Ptolemaic princesses, strengthening even further the commitment between the two families.
Decline and abandonment
With the arrival of the Romans, like Thebes, the city lost its place permanently in favour of AlexandriaAlexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, which opened onto the empire. The rise of the cult of Serapis, a syncretic deity most suited to the mentality of the new rulers of Egypt, and the emergence of Christianity
History of Christianity
The history of Christianity concerns the Christian religion, its followers and the Church with its various denominations, from the first century to the present. Christianity was founded in the 1st century by the followers of Jesus of Nazareth who they believed to be the Christ or chosen one of God...
taking root deep into the country, spelled the complete ruin of the ancient cults of Memphis.
Gradually, the city dropped out of existence during the Byzantine and Copt
Copt
The Copts are the native Egyptian Christians , a major ethnoreligious group in Egypt....
ic periods. The city then became a quarry to build new settlements nearby, including a new capital founded by the Arab
Arab
Arab people, also known as Arabs , are a panethnicity primarily living in the Arab world, which is located in Western Asia and North Africa. They are identified as such on one or more of genealogical, linguistic, or cultural grounds, with tribal affiliations, and intra-tribal relationships playing...
s who took possession
Muslim conquest of Egypt
At the commencement of the Muslims conquest of Egypt, Egypt was part of the Byzantine Empire with its capital in Constantinople. However, it had been occupied just a decade before by the Persian Empire under Khosrau II...
in the 7th century. The foundations of Fustat and later Cairo, both built further north, were laid with stones of dismantled temples and ancient necropoleis of Memphis. In the 13th century, the Arab chronicler Abd-ul-Latif, upon visiting the site, describes and gives testimony to the grandeur of the ruins of Memphis:
Although the remains today are nothing compared to what was witnessed by the Arab historian, his testimony has inspired the work of many archaeologists. The first surveys and excavations of the 19th century, and the extensive work of Flinders Petrie, have been able to show a little of the ancient capital's former glory. Memphis and its necropolis, which include funerary rock tombs, mastabas, temples and pyramids, were inscribed on the World Heritage List
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
of UNESCO in 1979.
Remains
During the time of the New Kingdom, and especially under the reign of the rulers of the 19th dynastyNineteenth dynasty of Egypt
The Nineteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt was one of the periods of the Egyptian New Kingdom. Founded by Vizier Ramesses I, whom Pharaoh Horemheb chose as his successor to the throne, this dynasty is best known for its military conquests in Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria.The warrior kings of the...
, Memphis flourished in power and size, rivalling Thebes both politically and architecturally
Ancient Egyptian architecture
The Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations which developed a vast array of diverse structures encompassing ancient Egyptian architecture...
. An indicator of this development can be found in a chapel of Seti I
Seti I
Menmaatre Seti I was a Pharaoh of Ancient Egypt , the son of Ramesses I and Queen Sitre, and the father of Ramesses II...
dedicated to the worship of Ptah. After over a century of excavations on the site, archaeologists have gradually been able to confirm the layout and expansion of the ancient city.
Great Temple of Ptah
The Hout-ka-Ptah, dedicated to the worship of the creator god PtahPtah
In Ancient Egyptian Religion, Ptah was the deification of the primordial mound in the Ennead cosmogony, which was more literally referred to as Ta-tenen , meaning risen land, or as Tanen, meaning submerged land, though Tatenen was a god in his...
, was the largest and most important temple in ancient Memphis. It was one of the most prominent structures in the city, occupying a large precinct within the city's centre. Enriched by centuries of veneration, the temple was one of the three foremost places of worship in Ancient Egypt, the others being the great temples of Horus
Horus
Horus is one of the oldest and most significant deities in the Ancient Egyptian religion, who was worshipped from at least the late Predynastic period through to Greco-Roman times. Different forms of Horus are recorded in history and these are treated as distinct gods by Egyptologists...
in Heliopolis
Heliopolis (ancient)
Heliopolis was one of the oldest cities of ancient Egypt, the capital of the 13th Lower Egyptian nome that was located five miles east of the Nile to the north of the apex of the Nile Delta...
, and of Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
in Thebes.
Much of what is known about the ancient temple today comes from the writings of Herodotus, who visited the site at the time of the first Persian invasion, long after the fall of the New Kingdom. Herodotus claimed that the temple had been founded by Menes
Menes
Menes was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the early dynastic period, credited by classical tradition with having united Upper and Lower Egypt, and as the founder of the first dynasty ....
himself, and that the core building of the complex was restricted to priests and kings. His account, however, gives no physical description of the complex. Archaeological work undertaken in the last century has gradually unearthed the temple's ruins, revealing a huge walled compound accessible by several monumental gates located along the southern, western and eastern walls.
The remains of the great temple and its premises are displayed as an open-air museum near the great colossus of Rameses II, which originally marked the southern axis of the temple. Also in this sector is a large sphinx
Sphinx
A sphinx is a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head or a cat head.The sphinx, in Greek tradition, has the haunches of a lion, the wings of a great bird, and the face of a woman. She is mythicised as treacherous and merciless...
monolith, discovered in the 19th century. It dates from the 18th dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
, most likely having been carved during the reign of either Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II
Amenhotep II was the seventh Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. Amenhotep inherited a vast kingdom from his father Thutmose III, and held it by means of a few military campaigns in Syria; however, he fought much less than his father, and his reign saw the effective cessation of hostilities...
or Thutmose IV
Thutmose IV
Thutmose IV was the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who ruled in approximately the 14th century BC...
. It is one of the finest examples of this kind statuary still present on its original site.
The outdoor museum houses numerous other statues, colossi, sphinxes, and architectural elements. However, the majority of the finds have been sold to major museums around the world. For the most part, these can be found on display in the Egyptian Museum
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....
in Cairo.
The specific appearance of the temple is unclear at present, and only that of the main access to the perimeter are known. Recent developments include the discovery of giant statues which adorned the gates or towers. Those that have been found date from the reign of Ramsses II. This pharaoh also built at least three shrines within the temple compound, where worship is associated with those deities to whom they were dedicated.
Temple of Ptah of Rameses II
This small temple, adjoining the southwest corner of the larger Temple of Ptah, was dedicated to the deified Rameses II, along with the three state gods: Horus, Ptah and Amun. It is known in full as the Temple of Ptah of Rameses, Beloved of Amun, God, Ruler of Heliopolis.Its ruins were discovered in 1942 by archaeologist Ahmed Badawy, and were excavated in 1955 by Rudolf Anthes. The excavations uncovered a religious building complete with a tower, a courtyard for ritual offerings, a portico with columns followed by a pillared hall and a tripartite sanctuary, all enclosed in walls built of mud bricks. Its most recent exterior has been dated from the New Kingdom era.
The temple opened to the east towards a path paved with other religious buildings. The archaeological explorations that took place here reveal that the southern part of the city indeed contain a large number of religious buildings with a particular devotion to the god Ptah, the principal god of Memphis.
Temple of Ptah and Sekhmet of Rameses II
Located further east, and near to the great colossus of Rameses, this small temple is attributed to the 19th dynasty, and seems to have been dedicated to Ptah and his divine consort SekhmetSekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet , was originally the warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing for Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert...
, as well as deified Rameses II. Its ruins are not as well preserved as others nearby, as its limestone foundations appear to have been quarried after the abandonment of the city in late antiquity.
Hedjet
Hedjet is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. The crown was white and, after the unification of Egypt, it was combined with the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, with the delta to form the Pschent, the Double Crown of Egypt...
.
Temple of Ptah of Merneptah
In the southeast of the Great Temple complex, the pharaoh MerneptahMerneptah
Merneptah was the fourth ruler of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. He ruled Egypt for almost ten years between late July or early August 1213 and May 2, 1203 BC, according to contemporary historical records...
, of the 19th dynasty, founded a new shrine in honour of the chief god of the city, Ptah. This temple was discovered in the early 20th century by Flinders Petrie, who identified a depiction of the Greek god Proteus
Proteus
In Greek mythology, Proteus is an early sea-god, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea", whose name suggests the "first" , as protogonos is the "primordial" or the "firstborn". He became the son of Poseidon in the Olympian theogony In Greek mythology, Proteus (Πρωτεύς)...
cited by Herodotus.
The site was excavated during the First World War by Clarence Stanley Fisher. Excavations began in the anterior part, which is formed by a large courtyard of about 15 sq metres, opening on the south by a large door with reliefs supplying the names of the pharaoh and the epithets of Ptah. Only this part of the temple has been unearthed; the remainder of the chamber has yet to be explored a little further north. During the excavations, archaeologists unearthed the first traces of an edifice built of mud brick, which quickly proved to be a large ceremonial palace built alongside the temple proper. Some of the key elements of the stone temple were donated by Egypt to the museum
University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology
The University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, commonly called The Penn Museum, is an archaeology and anthropology museum that is part of the University of Pennsylvania in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.-History:An internationally renowned...
at the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, which financed the expedition, while the other remained at the Museum in Cairo
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display, the remainder in storerooms....
.
The temple remained in use throughout the rest of the New Kingdom, as evidenced by enrolment surges during the reigns of later pharaohs. Thereafter, however, it was gradually abandoned and converted for other uses by civilians. Gradually buried by the activity of the city, the stratigraphic study of the site shows that by the Late Period
Late Period of Ancient Egypt
The Late Period of Ancient Egypt refers to the last flowering of native Egyptian rulers after the Third Intermediate Period from the 26th Saite Dynasty into Persian conquests and ended with the death of Alexander the Great...
it is already in ruins and is soon covered by new buildings.
Temple of Hathor
This small temple of Hathor was unearthed south of the great wall of the Hout-Ka-Ptah by Abdullah al-Sayed Mahmud in the 1970s and also dates from the time of Rameses II. Dedicated to the goddess HathorHathor
Hathor , is an Ancient Egyptian goddess who personified the principles of love, beauty, music, motherhood and joy. She was one of the most important and popular deities throughout the history of Ancient Egypt...
, Lady of the Sycamore, it presents an architecture similar to the small temple-shrines known especially to Karnak
Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex—usually called Karnak—comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, chapels, pylons, and other buildings, notably the Great Temple of Amun and a massive structure begun by Pharaoh Ramses II . Sacred Lake is part of the site as well. It is located near Luxor, some...
. From its proportions, it does not seem to be major shrine of the goddess, but is currently the only building dedicated to her discovered in the city's ruins.
It is believed that this shrine was primarily used for processional purposes during major religious festivals. A larger temple dedicated to Hathor, indeed one of the foremost shrines of the goddess in the country, is thought to have existed elsewhere in the city, but to date has not been discovered. A depression, similar to that found near the great temple of Ptah, could indicate its location. Archaeologists believe that it could house the remains of an enclosure and a large monument, a theory attested by ancient sources.
Other temples
A temple dedicated to Mithras, dated from the Roman period, has been uncovered in the grounds north of Memphis. The temple of AstarteAstarte
Astarte is the Greek name of a goddess known throughout the Eastern Mediterranean from the Bronze Age to Classical times...
, described by Herodotus, was located in the area reserved to the Phoenicians during the time when the Greek author visited the city. The temple of the goddess Neith
Neith
In Egyptian mythology, Neith was an early goddess in the Egyptian pantheon. She was the patron deity of Sais, where her cult was centered in the Western Nile Delta of Egypt and attested as early as the First Dynasty...
was said to have been located to the north of the temple of Ptah. Neither of the latter two has been discovered to date.
Memphis is believed to have housed a number of other temples dedicated to gods who accompanied Ptah. Some of these sanctuaries are attested by ancient hieroglyphs, but have not yet been found among the ruins of the city. Surveys and excavations are still continuing at nearby Mit Rahina, and will likely add to the knowledge of the planning of the ancient religious city.
Temple of Sekhmet
A temple dedicated to the goddess SekhmetSekhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet , was originally the warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing for Upper Egypt. She is depicted as a lioness, the fiercest hunter known to the Egyptians. It was said that her breath created the desert...
, consort of Ptah, has not yet been found but is currently certified by Egyptian sources.
It may be located within the precinct of the Hout-ka-Ptah, as would seem to suggest several discoveries made among the ruins of the complex in the late 19th century, including a block of stone evoking the "great door" with the epithet of the goddess, and a column bearing an inscription on behalf of Rameses II declaring him "beloved of Sekhmet". It has also been demonstrated through the Great Harris Papyrus
Papyrus Harris I
Papyrus Harris I is also known as the Great Harris Papyrus and simply the Harris Papyrus . Its technical designation is Papyrus British Museum 9999...
, which states that a statue of the goddess was made alongside those of Ptah and their son, the god Nefertem
Nefertem
In Egyptian mythology, Nefertem was originally a lotus flower at the creation of the world, who had arisen from the primal waters.Nefertem represented both the first sunlight and the delightful smell of the Egyptian blue lotus...
, during the reign of Rameses III, and that it was commissioned for the gods of Memphis at the heart of the great temple.
Temple of Apis
The Temple of Apis in Memphis was the main temple dedicated to the worship of the bull ApisApis (Egyptian mythology)
In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second Dynasty. Hape is named on very early monuments, but little is known of the divine animal before the New Kingdom...
, considered to be a living manifestation of Ptah. It is detailed in the works of classical historians such as Herodotus, Diodorus, and Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, but its location has yet to be discovered amidst the ruins of the ancient capital.
According to Herodotus, who described the temple's courtyard as a peristyle
Peristyle
In Hellenistic Greek and Roman architecture a peristyle is a columned porch or open colonnade in a building surrounding a court that may contain an internal garden. Tetrastoon is another name for this feature...
of columns with giant statues, it was built during the reign of Psammetichus I
Psammetichus I
Psamtik I , was the first of three kings of that name of the Saite, or Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. His prenomen, Wah-Ib-Re, means "Constant [is the] Heart [of] Re." The story in Herodotus of the Dodecarchy and the rise of Psamtik is fanciful...
.
The Greek historian Strabo
Strabo
Strabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
visited the site with the conquering Roman troops, following the victory against Cleopatra at Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...
. He details that the temple consisted of two chambers, one for the bull and the other for his mother, and all was built near the temple of Ptah. At the temple, Apis was used as an oracle
Oracle
In Classical Antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to be a source of wise counsel or prophetic predictions or precognition of the future, inspired by the gods. As such it is a form of divination....
, his movements being interpreted as prophecies
Prophecy
Prophecy is a process in which one or more messages that have been communicated to a prophet are then communicated to others. Such messages typically involve divine inspiration, interpretation, or revelation of conditioned events to come as well as testimonies or repeated revelations that the...
. His breath was believed to cure disease, and his presence to bless those around with virility. He was given a window in the temple through which he could be seen, and on certain holidays was led through the streets of the city, bedecked with jewellery and flowers.
In 1941, the archaeologist Ahmed Badawy discovered the first remains in Memphis which depicted the god Apis. The site, located within the grounds of the great temple of Ptah, was revealed to be a mortuary chamber designed exclusively for the embalming
Embalming
Embalming, in most modern cultures, is the art and science of temporarily preserving human remains to forestall decomposition and to make them suitable for public display at a funeral. The three goals of embalming are thus sanitization, presentation and preservation of a corpse to achieve this...
of the sacred bull. A stele
Stele
A stele , also stela , is a stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerals or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased or living — inscribed, carved in relief , or painted onto the slab...
found at Saqqara shows that Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II was the third and last pharaoh of the Thirtieth dynasty, as well as the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt. Under Nectanebo II Egypt prospered...
had ordered the restoration of this building, and elements dated from the 30th dynasty
Thirtieth dynasty of Egypt
The Thirtieth Dynasty of ancient Egypt followed Nectanebo I's deposition of Nefaarud II, the son of Hakor. This dynasty is often considered part of the Late Period....
have been unearthed in the northern part of the chamber, confirming the time of reconstruction in this part of the temple. It is likely that the mortuary was part of the larger temple of Apis cited by ancient sources. This sacred part of the temple would be the only part that has survived, and would confirm the words of Strabo and Diodorus, both of whom stated that the temple was located near the temple of Ptah.
The majority of known Apis statues come from the burial chambers known as Serapeum
Serapeum
A serapeum is a temple or other religious institution dedicated to the syncretic Hellenistic-Egyptian god Serapis, who combined aspects of Osiris and Apis in a humanized form that was accepted by the Ptolemaic Greeks of Alexandria...
, located to the northwest at Saqqara. The most ancient burials found at this site date back to the reign of Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III
Amenhotep III also known as Amenhotep the Magnificent was the ninth pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty. According to different authors, he ruled Egypt from June 1386 to 1349 BC or June 1388 BC to December 1351 BC/1350 BC after his father Thutmose IV died...
.
Temple of Amun
During the 21st dynastyTwenty-first dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth, and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
, a shrine of the great god Amun
Amun
Amun, reconstructed Egyptian Yamānu , was a god in Egyptian mythology who in the form of Amun-Ra became the focus of the most complex system of theology in Ancient Egypt...
was built by Siamun
Siamun
Neterkheperre or Netjerkheperre-setepenamun Siamun was the sixth pharaoh of Egypt during the Twenty-first dynasty. He built extensively in Lower Egypt for a king of the Third Intermediate Period and is regarded as one of the most powerful rulers of this Dynasty after Psusennes I...
to the south of the temple of Ptah. This temple (or temples) was most likely dedicated to the Theban Triad
Theban Triad
The Theban Triad are three Egyptian gods that were the most popular in the area of Thebes, in Egypt.-History:The group consisted of Amun, his consort Mut and their son Khonsu. The eighteenth and twenty fifth dynasties of the New Kingdom favored the triad...
, consisting of Amun, his consort Mut
Mut
Mut, which meant mother in the ancient Egyptian language, was an ancient Egyptian mother goddess with multiple aspects that changed over the thousands of years of the culture. Alternative spellings are Maut and Mout. She was considered a primal deity, associated with the waters from which...
, and their son Khonsu. It was the Upper Egyptian counterpart of the Memphis Triad (Ptah, Sekhmet, and Nefertem).
Temple of Aten
A temple dedicated to AtenAten
Aten is the disk of the sun in ancient Egyptian mythology, and originally an aspect of Ra. The deified Aten is the focus of the monolatristic, henotheistic, or monotheistic religion of Atenism established by Amenhotep IV, who later took the name Akhenaten in worship in recognition of Aten...
in Memphis is attested by hieroglyphs found within the tombs of Memphite dignitaries of the end of the 18th dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt
The eighteenth dynasty of ancient Egypt is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt...
, uncovered at Saqqara. Among them, that of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun , Egyptian , ; approx. 1341 BC – 1323 BC) was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty , during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom...
, who began his career under the reign of Akhenaten
Akhenaten
Akhenaten also spelled Echnaton,Ikhnaton,and Khuenaten;meaning "living spirit of Aten") known before the fifth year of his reign as Amenhotep IV , was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt who ruled for 17 years and died perhaps in 1336 BC or 1334 BC...
as a "steward of the temple of Aten in Memphis".
Since the early excavations at Memphis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, artefacts have been uncovered in different parts of the city that indicate the presence of a building dedicated to the worship of the sun disc
Sun (hieroglyph)
The Ancient Egyptian Sun hieroglyph is Gardiner sign listed no. N5 for the sun-disc; it is also one of the hieroglyphs that refers to the god Ra.-Luwian hieroglyhs, Sa-sub4:...
. The location of such a building is lost, and various hypotheses have been made on this subject based on the place of discovery of the remains of the Amarna
Amarna
Amarna is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site that represents the remains of the capital city newly–established and built by the Pharaoh Akhenaten of the late Eighteenth Dynasty , and abandoned shortly afterwards...
period features.
Statues of Rameses II
The ruins of ancient Memphis have yielded a large number of sculptures representing Pharaoh Rameses II.Within the museum in Memphis is a giant statue of the pharaoh carved of monumental limestone
Limestone
Limestone is a sedimentary rock composed largely of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of calcium carbonate . Many limestones are composed from skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral or foraminifera....
, about 10 metres in length. It was discovered in 1820 near the southern gate of the temple of Ptah by Italian archaeologist Giovanni Caviglia. Because the bottom of the sculpture has been broken off, it is currently displayed lying on its back. Some of the colours are still partially preserved, but the beauty of this statue lies in its flawless detail of the complex and subtle forms of human anatomy. The pharaoh wears the white crown of Upper Egypt, Hedjet
Hedjet
Hedjet is the formal name for the White Crown of pharaonic Upper Egypt. The crown was white and, after the unification of Egypt, it was combined with the Red Crown of Lower Egypt, with the delta to form the Pschent, the Double Crown of Egypt...
.
Caviglia offered to send the statue to Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II
Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany
Leopold II of Tuscany was the last reigning grand duke of Tuscany ....
, through the mediation of Ippolito Rosellini
Ippolito Rosellini
Ippolito Rosellini was an Italian Egyptologist.-Early life:He was born at Pisa. After graduating in theology, he studied under Mezzofanti at Bologna, and in 1824 became professor of oriental languages at Pisa University.-Association with Jean-François Champollion:He was the first disciple, a...
. Rosellini advised the sovereign of the terrible expenses involved with transportation, and considered as necessary the cutting of the colossus into pieces. The Wāli
Wali
Walī , is an Arabic word meaning "custodian", "protector", "sponsor", or authority as denoted by its definition "crown". "Wali" is someone who has "Walayah" over somebody else. For example, in Fiqh the father is wali of his children. In Islam, the phrase ولي الله walīyu 'llāh...
and self-declared Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
of Egypt and Sudan, Muhammad Ali Pasha
Muhammad Ali of Egypt
Muhammad Ali Pasha al-Mas'ud ibn Agha was a commander in the Ottoman army, who became Wāli, and self-declared Khedive of Egypt and Sudan...
, offered to donate it to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
, but the museum declined the offer because of the difficult task of shipping the huge statue to London. It therefore remained in the archaeological area of Memphis in the museum built to protect it.
The colossus was one of a pair that historically adorned the eastern entrance to the temple of Ptah. The other
Statue of Ramesses II (Mit Rahina)
The Statue of Ramesses II is a 3,200-year-old figure of Ramesses II, depicting him standing, that was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia at the Great Temple of Ptah of Mit-Rahina near Memphis, Egypt. It is made from red granite....
, found in the same year also by Caviglia, was restored in the 1950s to its full standing height of 11 metres. It was first displayed in the Bab Al-Hadid square in Cairo, which was subsequently renamed Ramses Square. Deemed an unsuitable location, it was moved in 2006 to a temporary location in Giza, where it is currently undergoing restoration. It is due to be exhibited at the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum
Grand Egyptian Museum
The Grand Egyptian Museum , also known as the Giza Museum, is a planned museum of artifacts of ancient Egypt. Described as the largest archaeological museum in the world, the USD 550 million museum is scheduled to open in 2013...
, scheduled to open in 2010. A replica of the statues stands in the suburb of Heliopolis
Heliopolis (Cairo Suburb)
Modern Heliopolis is a district in Cairo, Egypt. The city was established in 1905 by the Heliopolis Oasis Company, headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Louis Joseph, Baron Empain, as well as Boghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha.-History:The Baron Empain, a well known...
, in Cairo.
Saqqara, the Necropolis
Because of its antiquity and its large population, Memphis had several necropoleis spread along the valley, including the most famous, SaqqaraSaqqara
Saqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...
. In addition, the urban area itself consisted of cemeteries that were constructed to the west of the great temple. The sanctity of these places inevitably attracted the devout and the faithful, who sought either to make an offering to Osiris
Osiris
Osiris is an Egyptian god, usually identified as the god of the afterlife, the underworld and the dead. He is classically depicted as a green-skinned man with a pharaoh's beard, partially mummy-wrapped at the legs, wearing a distinctive crown with two large ostrich feathers at either side, and...
, or to bury another.
The part of town called Ankh-tawy was already included in the Middle Kingdom necropolis. Expansions of the western sector of the temple of Ptah were ordered by the pharaohs of the 22nd dynasty
Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt
The Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, Twenty-Fourth and Twenty-Fifth Dynasties of ancient Egypt are often combined under the group title, Third Intermediate Period.-Rulers:...
, seeking to revive the past glory of the Ramesside age. Within this part of the site was founded a necropolis of the high priests.
According to sources, the site also included a chapel or an oratory to the goddess Bastet, which seems consistent with the presence of monuments of rulers of the dynasty following the Bubastis
Bubastis
Bubastis , also known as Tell Basta or Egyptian Per-Bast was an Ancient Egyptian city, the capital of its own nome, located along the River Nile in the Delta region of Lower Egypt...
. Also in this area were the mortuary temple
Mortuary temple
Mortuary temples were temples constructed adjacent to, or in the vicinity of, royal tombs in the Ancient Egypt. The temples were designed to commemorate the reign of the pharaoh by whom they were built, as well as for use by the pharaoh's cult after death.-History:Mortuary temples were built...
s devoted by various New Kingdom pharaohs, whose function is parallelled by Egyptologists to that played by the Temples of a Million years of the Theban pharaohs.
Royal palaces
Memphis was the seat of power for the pharaohs of over eight dynasties. According to Manetho, the first royal palace was founded by Hor-AhaHor-Aha
Hor-Aha is considered the second pharaoh of the first dynasty of ancient Egypt in current Egyptology. He lived around the thirty-first century BC.- Name :...
, the successor of Narmer
Narmer
Narmer was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the Early Dynastic Period . He is thought to be the successor to the Protodynastic pharaohs Scorpion and/or Ka, and he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First Dynasty, and therefore the first pharaoh of unified Egypt.The...
, the founder of the 1st dynasty
First dynasty of Egypt
The first dynasty of Ancient Egypt is often combined with the Dynasty II under the group title, Early Dynastic Period of Egypt...
. He built a fortress in Memphis of white walls. Egyptian sources themselves tell of the palaces of the Old Kingdom rulers, some of which were built underneath major royal pyramids. They were immense in size, and were embellished with parks and lakes. In addition to the palaces described below, other sources indicate the existence of a palace founded in the city by Thutmose I
Thutmose I
Thutmose I was the third Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt. He was given the throne after the death of the previous king Amenhotep I. During his reign, he campaigned deep into the Levant and Nubia, pushing the borders of Egypt further than ever before...
, which was still operating under the reign of Tuthmosis IV.
Merneptah, according to official texts of his reign, ordered the building of a large walled enclosure housing a new temple and adjoining palace. The later pharaoh, Apries
Apries
Apries is the name by which Herodotus and Diodorus designate Wahibre Haaibre, Ουαφρης , a pharaoh of Egypt , the fourth king of the Twenty-sixth dynasty of Egypt. He was equated with the Waphres of Manetho, who correctly records that he reigned for 19 years...
, had a palatial complex constructed on a promontory overlooking the city. It was part of a series of structures built within the temple precinct in the Late Period, and contained a royal palace, a fortress, barracks and armouries. Flinders Petrie excavated the area and found considerable signs of military activity.
Other buildings
The centrally located palaces and temples were surrounded by different districts of the city, in which were many craftsmen's workshops, arsenals, and dockyards. Also were residential neighbourhoods, some of which were inhabited primarily by foreigners—first HittitesHittites
The Hittites were a Bronze Age people of Anatolia.They established a kingdom centered at Hattusa in north-central Anatolia c. the 18th century BC. The Hittite empire reached its height c...
and Phoenicians, later Persians
Persian people
The Persian people are part of the Iranian peoples who speak the modern Persian language and closely akin Iranian dialects and languages. The origin of the ethnic Iranian/Persian peoples are traced to the Ancient Iranian peoples, who were part of the ancient Indo-Iranians and themselves part of...
, and finally Greek. The city was indeed located at the crossroads of trade routes and thus attracted goods imported from diverse regions of the Mediterranean.
Ancient texts confirm that city-wide development took place regularly. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
has shifted over the centuries to the east, leaving new lands to occupy the eastern part of the old capital. This area of the city was dominated by the large eastern gate of the temple of Ptah.
Historical accounts and exploration
The site of Memphis has been famous since ancient times, and is cited in many ancient sources, including both Egyptian and foreign. Diplomatic records found on different sites have detailed the correspondence between the city and the various contemporary empires in the Mediterranean, Near East, and Africa. These include for example the Amarna lettersAmarna letters
The Amarna letters are an archive of correspondence on clay tablets, mostly diplomatic, between the Egyptian administration and its representatives in Canaan and Amurru during the New Kingdom...
, which detail trade conducted between Memphis and the sovereigns of Babylon
Babylon
Babylon was an Akkadian city-state of ancient Mesopotamia, the remains of which are found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers south of Baghdad...
and the various city-states of Lebanon
History of ancient Lebanon
The history of ancient Lebanon traces the course of events in what is now known as Lebanon from the beginning of history to the beginning of Arab rule.- Prehistoric Times :The earliest known settlements in Lebanon date back to earlier than 5000 BC...
. The proclamations of the later Assyrian kings cite Memphis among its list of conquests.
Sources from antiquity
Beginning with the second half of the 1st millennium BCE, the city was detailed more and more intensely in the words of ancient historians, especially with the development of trade ties with Greece. The descriptions of the city by travellers who followed the traders in the discovery of Egypt have proved instrumental in reconstructing an image of the ancient capital's glorious past. Among the main classical authors are:- HerodotusHerodotusHerodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
, Greek historian, who visited and described the monuments of the city during the first Persian invasion in the 5th century BCE. - Diodorus SiculusDiodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
, Greek historian, who visited the site in the 1st century BCE, providing later information about the city during the reign of the Ptolemies. - StraboStraboStrabo, also written Strabon was a Greek historian, geographer and philosopher.-Life:Strabo was born to an affluent family from Amaseia in Pontus , a city which he said was situated the approximate equivalent of 75 km from the Black Sea...
, Greek geographer, who visited during the Roman conquest in the late 1st century BCE.
Subsequently, the city is often cited by other Latin or Greek authors, in rare cases providing an overall description of the city or detailing its cults, as do Suetonius
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era....
and Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus
Ammianus Marcellinus was a fourth-century Roman historian. He wrote the penultimate major historical account surviving from Antiquity...
, who pay particular attention to the city's worship of Apis. The city was plunged into oblivion during the Christian period that followed, and few sources are available to attest to the city's activities during its final stages.
It was not until the conquest of the country by the Arabs that a description of the city reappears, by which time it was already in ruins. Among the major sources from this time:
- Abd-al-Latif, a famous geographer of Baghdad, which in the 13th century gives a description of the ruins of the site during his trip to Egypt.
- Al-MaqriziAl-MaqriziTaqi al-Din Ahmad ibn 'Ali ibn 'Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi ; Arabic: , was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi...
, Egyptian historian in the 14th century, who visited the site and describes it in detail.
Early exploration
In 1652, Jean de ThévenotJean de Thévenot
Jean de Thévenot was a French traveller in the East, who wrote extensively about his journeys. He was also a linguist, natural scientist and botanist....
, during his trip to Egypt, identified the location of the site and its ruins, confirming the accounts of the old Arab authors for Europe. His description is brief, but represents the first step towards the exploration that will emerge after the development of archaeology. The starting point of archaeological exploration in Memphis was Napoléon Bonaparte's great foray into Egypt in 1798. Research and surveys of the site confirmed the identification of Thévenot, and the first studies of its remains are carried out by scientists accompanying French soldiers. The results of the first scientific studies were published in the monumental Description de l'Égypte
Description de l'Egypte
Description de l'Égypte is the title of several books.* Description de l'Égypte - Description de l'Égypte ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française Pub; First Edition , L'Imprimerie Imperiale, 1809-1813; l'Imprimerie...
, a map of the region, the first to give the location of Memphis with precision.
Nineteenth century
The early French expeditions paved the way for explorations of a deeper scope that would follow from the 19th century until today, conducted by leading explorers, Egyptologists and major archaeological institutions. Here is a partial list:- The first excavations of the site were made by Caviglia and Sloane in 1820. They discovered the great colossus of Rameses II lying, currently on display in the museum.
- Jean-François ChampollionJean-François ChampollionJean-François Champollion was a French classical scholar, philologist and orientalist, decipherer of the Egyptian hieroglyphs....
, in his trip to Egypt from 1828 to 1830 through Memphis, described the giant discovered by Caviglia and Sloane, made a few digs at the site and decrypted many of the epigraphic remains. He promised to return with more resources and more time to study, but his sudden death in 1832 meant he did not achieve this ambition. - Karl Richard LepsiusKarl Richard LepsiusKarl Richard Lepsius was a pioneering Prussian Egyptologist and linguist and pioneer of modern archaeology.-Background:...
, during the Prussian expedition of 1842, made a quick survey of the ruins and created a first detailed map that would serve as the basis for all future explorations and excavations.
During the British era in Egypt, the development of agricultural technology along with the systematic cultivation of the Nile floodplains led to a considerable amount of accidental archaeological discoveries. Much of what was found would fall into the hands of major European collectors travelling the country on behalf of the great museums of London, Paris, Berlin, and Turin
Museo Egizio
The Museo Egizio is a museum in Turin, Italy, specialising in Egyptian archaeology and anthropology. It houses the world's largest and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities outside the Egyptian Museum in Cairo...
. It was during one of these land cultivations that peasants discovered, accidentally in 1847 near the village of Mit Rahina, elements of a Roman temple of Mithras.
From 1852 to 1854, Joseph Hekekyan, then working for the Egyptian government, conducted geological surveys on the site, and on these occasions made a number of discoveries, such as those at Kom el-Khanzir (northeast of the great temple of Ptah). These stones decorated with reliefs from the Amarna period, originally from the ancient temple of Aten in Memphis, had almost certainly been reused in the foundations of another ruined monument. He also discovered the great colossus of Rameses II
Statue of Ramesses II (Mit Rahina)
The Statue of Ramesses II is a 3,200-year-old figure of Ramesses II, depicting him standing, that was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia at the Great Temple of Ptah of Mit-Rahina near Memphis, Egypt. It is made from red granite....
in pink granite.
This spate of archaeological discoveries gave birth to the constant risk of seeing all these cultural riches finally leave Egyptian soil. Auguste-Édouard Mariette, who visited Saqqara in 1850, became aware of the need to create an institution in Egypt responsible for the exploration and conservation of the country's archaeological treasures. He established the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation
Supreme Council of Antiquities
The Supreme Council of Antiquities is the branch of the Egyptian Ministry of Culture responsible for the conservation, protection and regulation of all antiquities and archaeological excavations in Egypt...
(EAO) in 1859, and organised excavations at Memphis which revealed the first evidence of the great temple of Ptah, and uncovered the royal statues of the Old Kingdom.
Twentieth century
The major excavations of the British Egyptologist Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, conducted from 1907 to 1912, uncovered the majority of the ruins as seen today. Major discoveries on the site during these excavations included the pillared hall of the temple of Ptah, the pylon of Rameses II, the great alabaster sphinx, and the great wall north of the palace of Apries. He also discovered the remains of the Temple of Amun of Siamon, and the Temple of Ptah of Merneptah. His work was interrupted during the First World War, and would later then be taken up by other archaeologists, gradually uncovering some of the forgotten monuments of the ancient capital.A timeline listing the main findings:
- 1914 to 1921: the excavations of the University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
of the Temple of Ptah of Merneptah, which yield the discovery of the adjoining palace. - 1942: the EAO survey, led by Egyptologist Ahmed Badawy, discovers the small Temple of Ptah of Rameses, and the chapel of the tomb of prince Shoshenq of the 22nd dynasty.
- 1950: Egyptologist Labib HabachiLabib HabachiLabib Habachi was an influential Egyptian Egyptologist.Dr Habachi spent 30 years in the Antiquities Department of the Egyptian Government, ending his career as Chief inspector. During this period he spent an enormous amount of time in numerous dig sites in Egypt and the Sudan...
discovers the chapel of Seti I, on behalf of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation. The Egyptian government decides to transfer the pink granite colossus of Rameses II to Cairo. It is placed before the city's main train station, in a square subsequently named Midân Rameses. - 1954: the chance discovery by roadworkers of a necropolis of the Middle Kingdom at Kom el-Fakhri.
- 1955 to 1957: Rudolph Anthes, on behalf of the University of Philadelphia, searches and clears the small Temple of Ptah of Rameses, and the embalming chapel of Apis.
- 1969: the accidental discovery of a chapel of the small Temple of Hathor.
- 1970 to 1984: excavations conducted by the EAO clear the small temple of Hathor; directed by Abdullah el-Sayed Mahmud, Huleil Ghali and Karim Abu Shanab.
- 1980: excavations of the embalming chamber of Apis, and further studies by the American Research Center in EgyptAmerican Research Center in EgyptThe American Research Center in Egypt is a scholarly institution dedicated to supporting the conservation of Egyptian antiquities and research in Egyptology, Coptology and all periods of Egyptian history.-History:ARCE was founded in 1948 in Boston by Edward W...
. - 1982: Egyptologist Jaromir Málek studies and records the findings of the small temple of Ptah of Rameses.
- 1970, and 1984 to 1990: excavations by the Egypt Exploration SocietyEgypt Exploration SocietyThe Egypt Exploration Society is the foremost learned society in the United Kingdom promoting the field of Egyptology....
in London. Further excavations of the pillared hall and pylon of Rameses II; the discovery of granite blocks bearing the annals of the reign of Amenemhat IIAmenemhat IINubkhaure Amenemhat II was the third pharaoh of the Twelfth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt. Not much is known about his reign. He ruled Egypt for 35 years from 1929 BC to 1895 BC and was the son of Senusret I through the latter's chief wife, Queen Nefru. His queen is not known; although recently a...
; excavations of the tombs of high priests of Ptah; research and major explorations at the necropolis near Saqqara. - 2003: renewed excavations of the small temple of Hathor by the EAO (now the Supreme Council of Antiquities).
- 2003 to 2004: Excavations by a combined Russian-Belgian mission in the great wall north of Memphis.
See also
- Ancient EgyptAncient EgyptAncient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
- Egyptian pyramidsEgyptian pyramidsThe Egyptian pyramids are ancient pyramid-shaped masonry structures located in Egypt.There are 138 pyramids discovered in Egypt as of 2008. Most were built as tombs for the country's Pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods.The earliest known Egyptian pyramids are found...
- SaqqaraSaqqaraSaqqara is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis. Saqqara features numerous pyramids, including the world famous Step pyramid of Djoser, sometimes referred to as the Step Tomb due to its rectangular base, as well as a number of...
- List of Egypt-related topics
Further reading
- Herodotus, The Histories (Vol II).
- Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca historicaBibliotheca historicaBibliotheca historica , is a work of universal history by Diodorus Siculus. It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt , of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia , of North...
, (Vol I). - Strabo, GeographicaGéographicaGéographica is the French-language magazine of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society , published under the Society's French name, the Société géographique royale du Canada . Introduced in 1997, Géographica is not a stand-alone publication, but is published as an irregular supplement to La...
, Book XVII: North Africa. - Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Part XI: Life of Titus.
- Government of France (1809–1822). Description de l'ÉgypteDescription de l'EgypteDescription de l'Égypte is the title of several books.* Description de l'Égypte - Description de l'Égypte ou Recueil des observations et des recherches qui ont été faites en Égypte pendant l'expédition de l'armée française Pub; First Edition , L'Imprimerie Imperiale, 1809-1813; l'Imprimerie...
. Paris: Imprimerie impériale. - Tanis: l'Or des pharaons. Paris: Association Française d’Action Artistique (1987).