Egypt Place, Memphis

Memphis, one the glorious Old Kingdom capital of Egypt, has almost completely vanished. It is believed that the city was founded around 3100 BC, probably by King Menes, when Upper and Lower Egypt were first united. It had many splendid palaces and gardens, and was one of the most renowned and populous cities of the ancient world. Like most Egyptians cities with any degrees of importance, Memphis also had it own deity, the all-powerful creator-god Ptah, who formed the world with words from his tongue and heart.

Even as late as the 5th century BC, long after Thebes had taken over as capital of Egypt, Memphis was described by the Greek historian Herodotus as a ‘prosperous city and cosmopolitan center’. Its enduring importance, even then, was reflected in the size of its cemetery of the west bank of the Nile, an area replete with royal pyramids, private tombs and sacred animal necropolises. This city of the dead, centered at Saqqara, covers 30 km along the edge of the desert, Dahshur to Giza.

Today there are few signs of the grandeur of Memphis: in fact, it’s extremely difficult to imagine that a city once stood where there is now only a small museum and some statues in a garden. The museum contains a colossal limestone statue of Ramses II, similar to the one which stands at the center of Midan Ramses in Cairo.

In the Garden there are more statues of Ramses II, an eight tone alabaster sphinx, the sarcophagus of Amenhotep and the alabaster beds on which the sacred Apis bulls were mummified before being placed in the Separeum at Saqqara.