memphis

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• Memphis is the Greek version of one of the many names the Ancient Egyptians used to denote the city that lay on the border between Upper- and Lower-Egypt According to Manetho, the city of Memphis was founded by Menes soon after the unification of Egypt. This is supported by the fact that the oldest known tombs of any importance were built at that period, but it needs to be noted that the area was inhabited even before Narmer's reign. Memphis was also the principal place of the cult of the god Ptah, who is accepted as a creator-god in the region. The many temples built for him, his 'wife' Sekhmet and their 'son' Nefertem now lie in ruins, or have been demolished, destroyed and stripped of their decoration to be dispersed throughout the world. It is from one of these temples, Hw.t-kA-PtH (Hut-Ka-Ptah) "the mansion of the Ka of Ptah" that the Greeks derived the name Aegyptos, hence the modern name Egypt. During the New Kingdom period, the Pharaohs, particularly Ramses II, invested great efforts in increasing its splendour. The Greek historian Herodotus visited Memphis in the 5th century BC, when it was one of the largest and most beautiful of Eastern cities, but it began to lose importance to Alexandria in the Ptolemaic era. Wars, invasions and the flooding of the Nile finally wiped practically all trace of it from the face of the earth, and all that remains now are a few ruins of this great city, whose site is now occupied by a beautiful palm grove. The great Alabaster Sphinx was found amongst the ruins of what was once the temple devoted to Ptah, creator of the world. Also found near this sphinx, carved from a single block weighing 80,000 kilos, was an enormous statue of Ramses II, some twelve metres high, and which is now sheltered by a specially-built pavilion. A second colossal statue of Ramses II, identical to that which stands opposite Central Station in Cairo, was also found in this area. From Giza to Fayoum, scattered along the length of a strip of desert beside the west bank of the Nile are nearly one hundred pyramids (most of them rather deteriorated), numerous mastabas and the tombs of non-royals forming necropolises per¬taining to the city of Memphis
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