Memphis IJ@<

The name of Memphis is derived from the Ancient Egyptian name called 'Mn-nfr', (the good place) or (the beautiful monument) the ancient name of the pyramid complex of Pepy I (Dynasty VI) which is situated close by at South Saqqara, but from the 18th Dynasty on, this name was extended to cover the entire region or city where this pyramid was built. Coptic name Menfe, Memphis is the Greek translation. The original & the Ancient Egyptians name given to this city and used together with the name 'Mn-nfr', was 'Inb-HD' meaning (The White Wall(s)), a reference to the white walls surrounding it & Today it is the location of a local village called Mit Rahina 'Mt-RHn' meaning (the Ram's way) & the city lay on the border between Upper- and Lower-Egypt. According to Manetho, the city of Memphis was founded around 3,100 BC by Menes soon after the unification of Egypt & it served as the nation's capital of Egypt and the primary royal residence during the Early Dynastic period and the Old Kingdom. Traditionally Menes was thought to have enclosed his city within white mud brick walls which gave it the ancient name of 'Inb-HD', meaning 'White Walls' or 'White, Memphis was more likely a fortress from which Menes controlled the land and water routes between Upper Egypt and the Delta, & he could control the conquered people of Lower Egypt. However, by the Third Dynasty, the building at Saqqara suggests that Memphis had become a sizable city. Afterwards, this great city of the Old Kingdom became the administrative and religious center of Egypt. In fact, so dominating is the city during this era that we refer to it as the Memphite period. The end of the Old Kingdom by no means meant the end of Memphis as one of the most important cities in Egypt. Memphis remained the political and administrative center of Lower- and Middle-Egypt. What happened to the city to cause its complete demise is somewhat unclear. In later Dynasties Thebes became the capital of Egypt, but we know that Memphis retained much of its religious significance and continued to prosper during this period.

Actually, Thebes was never exactly the administrative center of Egypt which Memphis was, its significance being more religious. In fact, by the 18th Dynasty, the Egyptian Kings had apparently moved back into the Palaces of Memphis. After the turmoil of the Amarna-revolution at the end of the 18th Dynasty, Tutankhamun took up residence, not at Thebes, which was the capital of his predecessors (except Akhenaten), but at Memphis. The Ramesside kings, whose primary residence was the city Per-Ramesses in the Delta, too, recognized the importance of Memphis. Ramesses II's sisters, Tiya, was buried at its necropolis, along with many other New Kingdom officials and dignitaries. But when the Greeks arrived, and moved the Egyptian capital to Alexandria, Memphis suffered, and with the entrance of Christianity and the decline of Egyptian religion, Memphis became a mere shadow of the former great city. But the actual demise of Memphis probably occurred with the invasion of the Muslim conquerors in 641 when they established their new capital not at Memphis, but a short distance north of the city at Fustat, which is now a part of Cairo called Old Cairo, or Coptic Cairo. Ptah was the principal god of the Memphite region 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. Ptah,Sekhmet & Nefertem formed the Memphite Triad It is from one of these temples, Hw.t-kA-PtH (the mansion of the Ka of Ptah) that the Greeks derived the name Aegyptos, hence the modern name Egypt. Much of the Temple of Ptah dates to the reign of Rameses II and was once one of the largest temples in Egypt.Today, only a fraction of the temple remains, which was originally excavated by the famous Egyptologist, Petrie between 1908and 1913. The city must have been huge, judging from the size of its necropolises which extend for some 19 miles along the west bank of the Nile. These include Dahshure, Saqqara, Abusir, Zawyet el-Aryan, Giza and Abu Rawash, whose names derive not from their origins, but from modern nearby communities.

But there is little left of the City today at least that can be seen. Originally, the city had many fine temples, palaces and gardens. But today, other than the scattered ruins, most of the city is gone, or lies beneath cultivated fields, Nile silt and local villages. Today the site centers around the modern village of Mit Rahina on the west bank of the Nile, 24km south of Cairo Situated somewhere near the modern town of Abusir, in the valley to the east of the northernmost section of the Saqqara necropolis and is reduced to a small museum and an enclosure where statues are exhibited. Most of the existing remains date to the New Kingdom. Today, in Memphis, you will see an open air Museum.

Colossus of Ramesses II
The most impressive statue lies on its back in the modern museum building. This colossal limestone statue of Rameses II is a twin to the statue erected in the centre of Midan Rameses in Cairo. The museum piece is only a fragment, but even without its lower legs it measures nearly thirteen meters or about 10m (33.8 ft) long and once stood with its companion outside the Temple of Ptah at Memphis. The museum grounds display other statues of Rameses II, including one of red granite which once lay behind the museum but has now been erected at the eastern end of the garden. This piece was found in 1820 by an Italian traveler Giovanni Caviglia. Mohammad Ali donated the statue to the British Museum, but the task of moving the piece prevented the British from taking it to England. It is located in the archaeological zone of Memphis in the museum built to protect it. Here, the ancients achieved perfection with hand-held stones and crushed abrasives applied to sticks. And the shapes wrought were the complex, subtle forms of the human anatomy. How these master carvers achieved perfect surfaces on this scale with simple tools was beyond my comprehension. This forty-foot length of stone could only have been brought to life through the sensitive hand and watchful eye of a master sculptor, and with a great deal of loving care.

Alabaster Sphinx
The other major monument in the enclosure is a massive limestone (or 'alabaster') sphinx dating to the New Kingdom. The Alabaster Sphinx was carved in honor of an unknown Pharaoh most likely during the eighteenth dynasty, between 1700 and 1400 BC. Although there was not an inscription, the facial features suggest that it was in honor of Hatshepsut or Amenhotep II or Amenhotep IIIAmenhotep III is thought to be the builder of the Luxor Temple. The Alabaster Sphinx is 8m (26 ft) long and 4m (13 ft) tall and weighs around 90 tons. It has corroded over the centuries, but remains very impressive. This monument may have stood outside of the Temple of Ptah along with the Colossus of Ramses II. The Alabaster Sphinx spent many years lying on its side in water. This was responsible for the damage to the surface of the monument. The sphinx is sometimes referred to as the Calcite Sphinx. Calcite is an opaque white stone that is often times called alabaster. The Alabaster was quarried at a place east of 'Amarna called Hatnub. Calcite was also believed to have, in a mythical sense, solar connections. It was not often used as a building material. The type of figure known as a sphinx is created with the body of a lion and the head of royalty. The lion is in a crouching position with its paws outstretched. The human head is adorned with the covering reserved for kings of that particular period.

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