Memphis Egypt
Memphis, in Greek: μόμρις, was the ancient capital of the first Kingdom in Lower Egypt, and the capital of Egypt in the era of the ancient kingdom and from its foundation to the year 2200 BC. And a shorter time in the New Kingdom. and the administrative center along the Ancient History,
Memphis is considered one of the greatest capitals of ancient Egypt. Its activities were associated with the establishment of unity between the Nile Delta and Upper Egypt during the days of King Mina, and it remained the capital of Egypt in the era of the ancient state and the administrative and military capital at the time of the modern state.
The temple of Memphis was the god Ptah and its huge cowardice stretched from Abu Rawash in the north to Elisht in the south, it has the finest examples of Egyptian architecture and arts without dispute.
Memphis extended and expanded along the Western Nile to the outskirts of Giza, and along the eastern Nile to the area of the ancient Egypt neighborhood, as it was called for a long time, and it was called "khry-EHA "meaning" place of battle", and people were selling in it, and they were flying from Memphis to the ancient En.
Alexander the Great visited Memphis when he entered Egypt and was crowned there, and in the Ptolemaic era Alexandria remained the capital of Egypt, but Memphis lost its status.
The Old Kingdom,
The founder of the ancient kingdom was King Djoser and its capital was in the city of MANF. Famous kings who ruled Egypt during the period include de Sneferu, Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure.
Name:
The name "Memphis" is a Greek name that is a corruption of the name of the pyramid of Pepi the second from Nefer. The one who stayed alone in Coptic. Narmer founded the first ruling dynasty, and a rigid army protected the country, and Memphis served as the capital of Egypt.
Memphis (Menf) and its cowardice in an area that has remained an important UNESCO World Heritage site since 1979.
Menf was an ancient Egyptian city and the ancient capital of ENB-Haj, the first province of Lower Egypt that was known as mḥw (North). Its ruins are located near the modern city of Mit Rahina, 20 km (12 Mi) south of Giza in Greater Cairo, Egypt.
According to the legends told in the early third century BC by Maniton, a priest and historian who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom during the Hellenistic period of ancient Egypt, the city was founded by King Mina. It was the capital of ancient Egypt, during the ancient Egyptian kingdom and remained an important city throughout ancient Egyptian history. Occupying a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile Delta, it was home to noisy activity. Its main port, pero Nefer, was distinguished by a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and goods throughout the Old Kingdom. During its golden age, Menf flourished as a regional center of trade and religion.
It is believed that Minf enjoyed the protection of the god Ptah, the patron saint of craftsmen. The Great Temple," hat ka Ptah "(meaning" ka Ptah Palace", was one of the most prominent buildings in the city. The name of this temple, written in Greek as "Aἴγυπτς (Aegyptus)" by Maniton, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name "Egypt".
The history of MANF is inextricably linked with the history of the country itself. It is believed that its eventual collapse was due to the loss of its economic importance in late antiquity, after the rise of the city of Alexandria. Menf's religious importance waned after the abandonment of the ancient religion in the wake of the Edict of Thessalonica in 380 AD which imposed the adoption of Nicene Christianity throughout the Roman Empire only.
Today, the ruins of the former Capital provide fragmentary evidence of its past. Besides the pyramid complex in Giza, it has been preserved as a World Heritage Site since 1979. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.
Menf has had several names during its almost four thousand-year history. Its ancient Egyptian name was ENB-Hajj (translated as "white walls"
Due to its size, the city was also known by various other names, such as the names of neighborhoods that at one time or another enjoyed great fame. For example, according to the text of the first transitional period, he was known as the grandfather of SOT ("eternal places"), the name of the Titi pyramid.
At one time, the city was referred to as Ankh-Tawi (Meaning "Life of the two lands"), which confirms the strategic location of the city between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. This name seems to date back to the Middle Egyptian kingdom (about 2055 - 1640 bc), and it is often found in ancient Egyptian texts. Some scholars assert that this name was for an area containing a sacred tree located in the western quarter of the city that is located between the temple of Ptah the Great and the tombs at Saqqara.
At the beginning of the Egyptian New Kingdom (about 1550 BC), the city became known as manfar (meaning "durable and beautiful"), which became memfi (ⲙⲉⲙ ϥ ⲓ) in Coptic. The name "Memphis" (φιςμρις) is the Greek modification of the name they gave to the pyramid of Pepi I located west of the city.
While trying to paint ancient Egyptian history and religious elements in the traditions of the ancient Egyptians, the Greek poet Hesiod in his "theogonia" explained the name of the city by saying that MN was the daughter of the Greek river god Nilus and the wife of epaphus (the son of Zeus and IO), who founded the city and named it after his wife.
In the Bible, MANF is called " MOF " or " Nof."
Location,
The city of Manaf is located 20 km (12 Mi) south of Cairo, on the West Bank of the Nile River. The modern cities and towns of Mitzvah, Dahshur, Abu Sir, Abu Ghraib, and Zawiya El-Erian, south of Cairo, all lie within the historical administrative boundaries of MANF (). The city was also the place that drew the border between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. (The twenty-second province of Upper Egypt and the first of Lower Egypt).
Population,
Today, the footprint of the ancient city is uninhabited. The nearest modern settlement is the town of Metz. Estimates of the historical size of the population vary greatly between sources. According to Tertius Chandler, Memphis had a population of about 30,000 and was by far the largest settlement worldwide from the time of its foundation until approximately 2250 BC and from 1557 to 1400 BC. It is considered K. A. The population of the city was estimated at 6,000 inhabitants during the ancient Egyptian kingdom.
History,
A ritual object depicting the God Nefertem, who was worshiped mainly in menf, Walters Art Museum
During the ancient Egyptian kingdom, MANF became the capital of ancient Egypt for more than eight consecutive times. The city reached the peak of its prestige during the reign of the sixth Egyptian dynasty as the center of worship of Ptah, the God of creation and works of art. The alabaster Sphinx guarding the temple of Ptah serves as a monument to the former power and prestige of the city. The trinity of menf, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his wife Sekhmet, and their son Nefertim, formed the main focus of worship in the city.
Menf's status declined after the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt with the rise of Thebes and the modern Egyptian kingdom, but it was revived during the reign of the Persians, before declining strongly to second place after the founding of Alexandria under the rule of the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important Egyptian city. It remained separate from the other cities of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat in 641 AD after the Muslim conquest of Egypt. After that, it was largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still a collection of majestic ruins in the XII century, but soon it became little more than an area of low ruins and scattered stones.
Legendary history,
The legend recorded by Maniton was that Mina, the first king to unite the two lands, founded his capital on the banks of the Nile by diverting the river with dams. The Greek historian Herodotus, telling a similar story, tells that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point, the rulers of the country became especially interested in the condition of these dams until the city was saved from the annual flood. It has been hypothesized that Mina may have been a legendary King, similar to Romulus in Rome. Some scholars suggest that Egypt most likely became unified through mutual need, the development of cultural relations, and trade partnerships, although it is indisputable that the first capital of a unified Egypt was the city of Menf. Some Egyptologists identified the legendary Mina with the historical Narmer, who is represented in the painting Narmer conquered the lands of the Nile Delta in the sea face and installed himself as King. This painting has been dated to about the Thirty-First Century BC, therefore, it will be associated with The Legend of the Unification of Egypt by Mina. However, in 2012 an inscription was discovered depicting the visit of the pre-dynastic King Eri-Hur to MANF in Sinai. Since Eri-Hur precedes Narmer by two generations, the latter cannot be the founder of the city
Ancient Egyptian kingdom,
Little is known about the city in the ancient Egyptian kingdom. It was the capital of the state for the powerful kings who ruled from exile during the history of the first Egyptian dynasty. According to Maniton, during the first years of Mina's reign, the seat of power was located far from the south, in Thinis. According to Manetho, the ancient sources indicate that the" white walls "(ENB-hedge) or" white wall fortress " was founded by Mina. The king likely established himself there to better control the new union between the two previously rival kingdoms. The Djoser complex of the third Egyptian dynasty, located in the ancient necropolis of Saqqara, would then be the Royal funerary chamber, which housed all the necessary elements of the monarchy: temples, shrines, ceremonial courts, palaces, and barracks.
The Golden Age began with the fourth Egyptian dynasty, which seems to have consolidated the primary role of MANF as a royal residence where the rulers received the double crown, the divine manifestation of the unification of the two lands. The coronation and Jubilee were celebrated like the feast of the dam in the temple of Ptah. The earliest signs of such ceremonies were found in the chambers of Djoser.
During this period, the clergy of the temple of Ptah came into being. The importance of the temple is evidenced by payments for food and other goods necessary for the funeral rites of royal dignitaries and nobles. The temple is also cited in the records preserved on the Palermo stone, and starting from the reign of Menkaure, we know the names of the high priests of Menf who began to work in pairs, at least until the reign of Teti.
The architecture of this period was similar to that seen in the royal necropolis of Giza from the fourth dynasty, as recent excavations have revealed that the primary focus of the Kingdom at that time was on the construction of royal tombs. A strong suggestion for this idea is the origin of the name of the city itself, which matches the pyramid of Pepi I of the sixth Egyptian dynasty. She was then the heiress of a long artistic and architectural practice, constantly encouraged by the traces of previous epochs.
All these tombs were surrounded by camps inhabited by artisans and workers, intended exclusively for the construction of royal tombs. Spread over several kilometers stretching in all directions, Menf formed a real megalopolis, with temples connected to the sacred temenos, and ports connected by roads and canals. Thus the perimeter of the city gradually expanded into a vast urban sprawl. Its center remained around the temple complex of Ptah.
Middle Egyptian kingdom,
At the beginning of the Middle Egyptian kingdom, the capital and court of the King moved to Thebes in the south, leaving MANF for some time. Although the seat of political power has changed, MANF has probably remained the most important commercial and artistic center, as evidenced by the discovery of handicraft areas and tombs, located west of the temple of Ptah.
Remains have also been found testifying to the architectural focus of this time. A large granite sacrificial table on behalf of Amenemhat I mentioned the creation by the king of a shrine to the god Ptah, the Lord of truth. Other blocks recorded in the name of Amenemhat II were found to be used as the basis for large monoliths predating the towers of Ramses II. It is also known about these kings that they ordered mining expeditions, raids, or military campaigns beyond the borders, and erected monuments or statues to consecrate the gods, as evidenced by a commission recording the official acts of the royal court during this time. In the ruins of the temple of Ptah, there is a block with the name of Senusret II bearing an inscription indicating an architectural commission as a gift to the goddess Menf. In addition, many of the statues found on the site, which were later restored by the Kings of the Egyptian New Kingdom, are attributed to the Kings of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt. An example of this is the two stone giants recovered amid the ruins of the temple, which were later restored under the name of Ramses II.
Finally, according to the tradition recorded by Herodotus, and Diodorus, Amenemhat III built the northern gate of the temple of Ptah. Remains attributed to this King have already been found during excavations carried out in this area by Flinders Petrie, who confirmed the link. It should also be noted that during this time, The Mastaba of the high priests of Ptah was built near the Royal pyramids in Saqqara, which shows that the Kings and the clergy of Menf at that time were closely related. The thirteenth dynasty of Egypt continued this trend, and some of the Kings of this line were buried in Saqqara, which indicates that Memphis retained its position at the heart of the monarchy.
With the invasion of the Hyksos and their rise to power in 1650 BC, the city of MANF was besieged. After its capture, many monuments and statues of the ancient capital were dismantled, looted or damaged by the Kings of the Hyksos, who later moved them to decorate their new capital in Avaris. Most of these relics were later restored by Ramses II to decorate his new capital at BER-Ramses. Later, they were transferred again during the third transitional period to Tanis, and many of them were found scattered among the ruins of various ancient capitals of the country. Evidence of royal propaganda was uncovered and attributed to the Theban kings of the seventeenth Egyptian dynasty, who began the reopening of the kingdom half a century later.
The modern Egyptian kingdom,
Thus, the eighteenth Egyptian dynasty opened with the victory of Thebes over the invaders. Although the reigns of Amenhotep II (reigned from 1427 - 1401 BC) and Thutmose IV (reigned from 1401 - 1391 BC) saw a significant royal concentration in Menf, for the majority, power remained in the South. With the long period of peace that followed, prosperity again dominated the city, which took advantage of its strategic location. The strengthening of trade relations with other empires meant that the port of Pero-Nefer (literally means "bon voyage") became the gateway to the kingdom for neighboring regions, including Byblos and the Levant.
In the modern kingdom, MANF has become a center for the education of royal princes and Sons of nobles. Amenhotep II, who was born and raised in Menf, was appointed - the High Priest on the sea face - during the reign of his father. His son Thutmose IV received his famous and recorded dream during his stay as a young prince in Menf. During his exploration of the site, Karl Richard Lepsius identified a series of broken blocks and columns with 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.
The foundation of the temple of Astarte, which Herodotus mistakenly called dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, may also date back to the Eighteenth Dynasty and specifically the reign of Amenhotep III (reigned 1386 – 1351 BC). The greatest work of this king in Menf was, however, a temple called "nebmatra United with Ptah", which is cited by many sources from his reign, including artifacts that mention the works of Hui, the host of Menf. The exact location of this temple has not been determined, but a number of its brown quartzite blocks were found to have been reused by Ramesses II (1279 - 1213 BC) for the construction of the small temple of Ptah. This leads some Egyptologists to suggest that the latter temple was built over the site of the former.
According to the inscriptions found in Menf, Akhenaten (reigned from 1351 - 1334 BC; previously Amenhotep IV) founded the Aten Temple in the city. The burial chamber of one of the priests of this sect was uncovered in Saqqara. His successor Tutankhamun (reigned 1332-1323 BC; formerly Tutankhamun) moved the Royal Court from Akhenaten's capital Akhetaten ("horizon of the Aten") to manve before the end of the second year of his reign. While in Manve, Tutankhamun began the period of restoration of temples and traditions that followed the era of the atonid religion, which came to be considered heretical.
The tombs of high officials of his reign, such as Horemheb and Maya, are located in Saqqara, although Horemheb was buried in the Valley of the Kings after he reigned as king (reigned from 1319 to 1292 BC). He was an army commander under Tutankhamun and AI. Maya was the supervisor of the Treasury under Tutankhamun, AI, and Horemheb. AI was the prime minister of Tutankhamun, and he succeeded him as king (reigned from 1323 to 1319 BC). To consolidate his power, he married Tutankhamun's widow Ankh-Esen-Amun, the third of Akhenaten and Nefertiti's six daughters. Her fate is unknown. Similarly, Horemheb consolidated his power when he married Nefertiti's sister mutinemet.
There is evidence that the city developed a new significance in the political sphere during the reign of Ramses II through its proximity to the new capital of BER-Ramses. The King consecrated many monuments in menf and decorated them with great symbols of glory. Merneptah (reigned from 1213 to 1203 bc), his successor constructed the palace and developed the southeastern wall of the temple of Ptah. In the early part of the XIX Egyptian dynasty, the minbans received royal attention, and this dynasty is the most visible among the ruins of the city today.
With the Twenty-First and twenty-second dynasties, there is a continuation of the religious development initiated by Ramesses. Menf does not seem to have suffered a deterioration during the third transitional period, which saw significant changes in the country's geopolitics. Instead, the Kings likely worked to develop the cult of menf in their new capital Tanis, to the Northeast. Given some remains found at the site, it is known that there was a temple of Ptah. Si Ammon is cited as having built a temple dedicated to Amun, the remains of which were found by Flinders Petrie in the early twentieth century, in the south of the temple complex of Ptah.
According to the inscriptions describing his architectural works, sheshenq I (reigned 943 - 922 BC), the founder of the twenty-second dynasty, built the forecourt and the gate to the temple of Ptah, a monument called the "fortress of millions of years" of sheshenq, the beloved of Amun ". The funerary cult surrounding this monument, well known in the new kingdom, was still in operation for several generations after its creation in the temple, which led some scholars to suggest that it probably contained the Royal Burial Chamber of the King. Sheshenq also ordered the construction of a new shrine to the God APIs, especially dedicated to the funeral ceremony in which the bull was killed before being embalmed.
A tomb of the high priests of menf, dating specifically to the twenty-second dynasty, was found west of the forum. It included a chapel dedicated to Ptah by the Prince of Shoshenq, son of oserkun II (R.872 - 837 BC), whose tomb was found in Saqqara in 1939 by Pierre Monti. The chapel is currently on display in the gardens of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, behind three of the giant statues of Ramses II, also from MANF.
The late period,
During the Third Intermediate Period and the later period, it was often the scene of liberation struggles of local dynasties against the occupying powers, such as the Kushites, Assyrians, and Persians. The victorious campaign of Baankhi, the ruler of the Kushites, saw the establishment of the twenty-fifth Egyptian dynasty, whose seat of power was in Nabta. The conquest of Egypt by Maankhi is recorded on the Victory Monument in the temple of Amun at Mount Barkal. After the capture of Menf, he restored neglected temples and cults during the reign of the Libyan Kings. His successors were known for building chapels in the southwestern corner of the temple of Ptah.
MANF was at the center of the unrest caused by the Assyrian threat. The city under Taharqa formed the border base of the resistance, which soon collapsed with the retreat of the Kushite king to Nubia. The Assyrian King Esarhaddon, with the support of some native Egyptian princes, took exile in 671 BC. Esarhaddon returned to his capital Nineveh, erected a victory stele and almost as soon as the King left, Egypt rebelled against Assyrian rule.
In Assyria, Ashurbanipal succeeded his father and resumed the attack on Egypt. In a large-scale invasion in 664 BC, the city of MANF was attacked and conquered, and the King Tanut Amani was pursued into Nubia and defeated, which put an end to the Kushite rule over Egypt. Then the power returned to the twenty-sixth dynasty and, expelling the Assyrians from Egypt and repelling the invasion of the Babylonians, they rebuilt the buildings and even fortified the city, as documented by the palace built by Abris in Kom Tuman.
Nevertheless, Egypt was conquered and exiled from Persia by King Cambyses in 525 BC after the Battle of Varma. Under the Persians, the structures in the city were preserved and strengthened, and Menf became the administrative headquarters of the Persian occupation. A Persian Garrison was permanently installed inside the city, probably in the Great Wall of the north, near the dominant Palace of Apres. Excavations by Flinders Petrie revealed that this sector includes armories. For almost a century and a half, the city remained the capital of the Egyptian-Persian state and officially became one of the hotbeds of trade in the vast lands conquered by the Achaemenids.
The paintings dedicated to APIs in the Serapeum of Saqqara, commissioned by the reigning king, represent a key element in understanding the events of this period. As in the late era, the catacombs in which the remains of the sacred bulls were buried gradually increased in size and later took on a monumental appearance confirming the growth of the cult hypostasis throughout the country, especially in its seclusion and cowardice. Thus, the monument dedicated by Cambyses II seems to refute the testimony of Herodotus, who imparts to the invaders a criminal attitude of disrespect for sacred traditions.
The national awakening came with the rise to power, albeit briefly, of Amyrtaeus in 404 BC, who ended the first Persian occupation of Egypt. He was then defeated and executed in menf in October 399 BC by Neferetes I, the founder of the twenty-ninth Egyptian dynasty. The execution was recorded in an Aramaic papyrus document (Brooklyn papyrus 13). Neferetz moved the capital to Mendes, in the eastern Delta, and minf lost its position in the political sphere. It retained, however, its religious, commercial, and strategic importance, and was instrumental in resisting Persian attempts to reoccupy Egypt.
During the reign of Nakhtenpo I, a major reconstruction program of temples began throughout the country. In menf, a powerful new wall of the temple of Ptah was rebuilt, and developments were made to the temples and chapels inside the complex. Meanwhile, Nakhtenpo II, continuing the work of his predecessor, began to build large sanctuaries, especially in the Saqqara necropolis, decorating them with towers, statues, and paved roads lined with rows of sphinxes. Despite his efforts to prevent the Persians from occupying the country, he succumbed to a large-scale invasion in 343 BC and was defeated at the Battle of Varma. Nakhtenpu II retreated south to menf, where Emperor Dara III imposed a siege, forcing the king to flee to Upper Egypt, and eventually to Nubia.
The city of MANF was liberated for a short time along with a large part of Lower Egypt under the rule of the rebellious King khababash (338 to 335 BC) evidenced by the sarcophagus of the Apis bull bearing his name, which was discovered in Saqqara since his second year. The armies of Dara III eventually regained control of the city.
MANF in the late period saw repeated invasions followed by successive liberations. It was besieged several times and was the scene of many of the bloodiest battles in the history of the country. Despite the support of their Greek allies in undermining the domination of the Achaemenids, the country fell into the hands of the invaders, and MANF was never again the capital of the nation. In 332 BC came the Greeks, who took control of the country from the Persians, and Egypt never saw a new local ruler take the throne until the July 23 Revolution (although there were many periods when the Egyptians were able to rule large parts of their country throughout history).
Ptolemaic period,
"Alexander in the temple of APIs in Memphis", by Andrei kastini (1898-1899)
In 332 BC, Alexander the Great was crowned king in the temple of Ptah, marking the beginning of the Hellenistic period. The city retained a prominent position, especially religious, throughout the period after one of his generals, Ptolemy I, seized power. Upon the death of Alexander in Babylon (323 BC), Ptolemy made a great effort to acquire his body and transfer it to MANF. Claiming that the King had officially expressed a desire to be buried in Egypt, he carried Alexander's body to the heart of the temple of Ptah, and the priests embalmed him. By custom, the Kings in Macedonia confirmed their right to the throne by burying their ancestor. Ptolemy II later transported the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where a royal tomb was erected for his burial. The exact location of the cemetery has since been lost. According to Claudius Aelianus, the seer Aristander predicted that the land where Alexander was buried "will be happy and incorruptible forever".
So began the Ptolemaic Kingdom, during which the city began to gradually decline. Ptolemy I was the first to introduce the cult of Serapis in Egypt, he founded his cult in Saqqara. It is from this period that many developments in the Saqqara Serapeum date, including the construction of the poets ' chamber, as well as The ` Dromos that adorn the temple, and many elements of Greek-inspired architecture. The reputation of the sect stretched far beyond the borders of the country but was later overshadowed by the Serapeum (Alexandria), built by his successors in honor of Ptolemy.
The edicts of Memphis were issued in 216 and 196 BC, by Ptolemy IV and Ptolemy V respectively. Delegations of the main clergy of the Kingdom gathered at the Synod, under the auspices of the high priest of Ptah and in the presence of the king, to establish the religious policy of the country for years to come, as well as impose duties and taxes, establish new foundations, and honor the Ptolemaic rulers. These decrees were inscribed on a memorial plaque in three texts for everyone to read and understand: demotic, hieroglyphic, and Greek. The most famous of these paintings is the Rosetta Stone, which allowed deciphering the ancient Egyptian calligraphy of the XIX century. There were other paintings, funerary this time, discovered at the site that conveyed the knowledge of the lineage of the higher clergy of menf, a dynasty of high priests of Ptah. The lineage retained strong ties with the royal family of Alexandria, so much so that marriages took place between some high priests and Ptolemaic princesses, increasing the strength of commitment between the two families.
Decline and abandonment,
With the arrival of the Romans, menf, like Thebes, permanently lost its status in favor of Alexandria, which was opened to the Roman Empire. The emergence of the cult of Serapis, the syncretic God most suitable for the mentality of the new rulers of Egypt, and the emergence of Christianity rooted deep in the country, led to the complete ruin of the ancient sects of MANF.
During the Byzantine and Coptic periods the city's prestige gradually diminished and its importance declined. It was then turned into a quarry from which stones were used to build new settlements nearby, including a new capital founded by the Arabs who conquered Egypt in the seventh century AD. The foundations of Fustat and Cairo were laid later, both built in the far north, with the stones of dismantled temples and an ancient MANF wall. In the XIII century AD, the Arab historian Abdul Latif, when visiting the site, described and testified to the greatness of the monuments.
Despite the frequent change of governments that have endured the yoke of wars and battles, and the great pains that more than one nation has expended to destroy them, to sweep the last trace of them from the face of the earth to remove the stones and materials from which they were constructed, and to disfigure the statues that adorn them; despite everything that they have done more than four thousand years in addition to man, these monuments still present to the eye of the beholder a set of wonders that baffle the senses and which the most skillful pens should fail to describe. The more deeply we think about this city, the more we admire it, and every new look at the ruins is a new source of delight... The ruins are separated by a half-day journey in each direction.
Although the remains today do not compare with what the Arab historian witnessed, his testimony inspired the work of many archaeologists. The first surveys and excavations of the XIX century AD and the intensive work of Flinders Petrie were able to show a little of the former glory of the ancient capital. Memphis and its Necropolis, which includes megalithic funerary tombs, terraces, temples and pyramids, were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979.
Remains,
During the era of the Egyptian New Kingdom, especially during the reign of the rulers of the Nineteenth Dynasty, minf flourished in terms of power and size, rivaling Thebes both politically and architecturally. An indication of this development can be found in the temple of Seti I dedicated to the cult of Ptah. After more than a century of excavations at the site, archaeologists have gradually been able to confirm the layout and expansion of the ancient city.
The Great Temple of Ptah,
The temple of the whale ka Ptah, dedicated to the worship of the creator god Ptah, was the largest and most important temple in ancient MANF. It was one of the most prominent buildings in the city, occupying a large area within the city center. Enriched by centuries of veneration, the temple was one of the first three places of worship in ancient Egypt, the others being the great temples of RA in On, and Amun in Thebes.
Much of what is known today about the ancient temple comes from the writings of Herodotus, who visited the site at the time of the first Persian occupation of Egypt, long after the fall of the New Kingdom. Herodotus claimed that the temple was founded by Mina, and the basic building of the complex was reserved for priests and Kings. However, his account does not give a physical description of the complex. Archaeological works carried out in the last century gradually uncovered the ruins of the temple, revealing a huge walled complex accessible through several huge gates located along the southern, western, and eastern walls.
The specific appearance of the temple is unclear at the moment, only the appearance of the main entrance to the perimeter is known. Recent developments include the discovery of giant statues adorning Gates or towers. Those that have been found date back to the reign of Ramses II. This king also built at least three shrines within the temple complex, where worship is associated with those deities who were dedicated to them.
Temple of Ptah Ramses II
This small temple, adjacent to the southwestern corner of the larger Temple of Ptah, was dedicated to the author Ramses II, along with the three state gods: Horus, Ptah, and Amun. He is fully known for the temple of Ptah Ramses, the beloved of Amun, the God, the ruler of On.
Its ruins were discovered in 1942 by archaeologist Ahmed Badawi and excavated in 1955 by Rudolf Anthis. The excavations revealed a religious building complete with a tower, an offering courtyard, a colonnaded Portico followed by a colonnaded Hall, and a triple sanctuary, all surrounded by adobe walls. Its newest exterior dates back to the era of the New Kingdom.
The temple opened towards the east towards a paved road surrounded by other religious buildings. Archaeological excavations carried out here reveal that the southern part of the city already contains a large number of religious buildings with a special dedication to the god Ptah, the main God of MANF.
Temple of Ptah and Sekhmet Ramses II
Located in the Far East, near the statue of Ramses II, this small temple, attributed to the XIX dynasty, seems to have been dedicated to Ptah and his divine consort Sekhmet, as well as Ramses II. Its ruins are not as well preserved as other nearby monuments, as its limestone foundations seem to have been uprooted after the abandonment of the city in late antiquity.
A column depicting Merneptah making an offering to Ptah
Dating back to the Middle Kingdom era, two giant statues originally adorned the facade of the building, which opened towards the West. They were transferred inside the Menf Museum, and the King was depicted standing in the marching position wearing the white crown of Upper Egypt.
Temple of Ptah Merneptah.
In the southeast of the large temple complex, King Merneptah of the XIX dynasty founded a new Shrine in honor of the main God of the city, Ptah. This temple was discovered in the early twentieth century by Flinders Petrie, who identified it as 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 front part, which consists of a large courtyard with an area of about 15 square meters, and a large door opens from the south with inscriptions providing the name of the king and the titles of Ptah. Only this part of the temple has been discovered; the rest of the chamber has not yet been explored a little further north. During the excavations, archaeologists discovered the first traces of an adobe building, which soon proved to be a large ceremonial palace built next to the temple. Egypt donated some of the main elements of the Stone Temple to the Museum of the University of Pennsylvania, which financed the expedition, while the other remained in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The temple remained in use throughout the New Kingdom, as evidenced by the increased enrollment during the reigns of subsequent kings. After that, it was gradually abandoned and converted for other uses by civilians. The stratigraphic study of the site, which was gradually buried by the action of the city's activity, shows that by the late era, it was already in ruins and was soon covered with new buildings.
Temple of Hathor.
This small temple of Hathor was discovered south of the Great Wall of the Ka-Ptah whale by Abdullah Sayyid Mahmud in the seventies of the last century and also dates back to the time of Ramses II. Dedicated to the goddess Hathor, Our Lady of Sycamore, it presents a structure similar to a small temple-especially the well-known shrine Karnak. From its dimensions, it does not seem to be the main shrine of the goddess, but currently, it is the only building dedicated to her that has been discovered in the ruins of the city.
It is believed that this shrine was used primarily for processional purposes during major religious ceremonies. It is believed that there is a larger temple dedicated to Hathor, which, is one of the main shrines of the goddess in the country, elsewhere in the city, but it has not yet been discovered. A depression, similar to the one located near the temple of Ptah the Great, can indicate its location. Archaeologists believe that it could house the remains of a fence and a large monument, a theory attested by ancient sources.
Other temples
It was said that the temple of the goddess Neith was located north of the temple of Ptah. It has not been discovered so far.
It is believed that MANF contained several other temples dedicated to the gods who accompanied Ptah. Some of these holy places are documented by ancient hieroglyphs, but they have not yet been found among the ruins of the city. Surveys and excavations are still ongoing in the neighboring Mit-Rahina, and are likely to add to the knowledge of the layout of the ancient religious city.
Temples of foreign gods,
A temple dedicated to Mithras, dating back to the Roman period, was discovered in the territory north of Menf. The temple of Astarte, described by Herodotus, was located in the area intended for the Phoenicians at the time when the Greek author visited the city, but it has not yet been discovered.
Temple of Sekhmet,
A temple dedicated to the goddess Sekhmet, the wife of Ptah, has not yet been found, but it is currently approved by Egyptian sources. Archaeologists are still looking for remains. It may be located within the area of Hut ka Ptah, as it seems to suggest several discoveries made among the ruins of the complex in the late nineteenth century AD, including a block of stone evoking the "big door" with the nickname of the goddess, and a column with an inscription with the name of Ramses II proclaiming him "beloved of Sekhmet". This is also illustrated by the papyrus of the Great Harris, which states that a statue of the goddess was made along with the statue of Ptah and their son, the God Nefertem, during the reign of Ramses III, and that it was commissioned to the goddess Menf in the heart of the Great Temple.
APIs temple,
The temple of APIs in Menf was the main temple dedicated to the cult of the bull APIs, which is considered a living manifestation of Ptah. It is detailed in the works of classical historians such as Herodotus, Diodorus and Strabo, but its location has not yet been discovered amid the ruins of the ancient capital. According to Herodotus, who described the temple courtyard as a perimeter of columns with giant statues, it was built during the reign of epsomatik I. The Greek historian Strabo visited the site with the invading Roman troops after the victory over Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium. He explains that the temple consists of two rooms, one for the bull and the other for his mother, all of which were built near the temple of Ptah. In the temple, APIs were used as a medium of revelation, since his movements were interpreted as prophecies. It was believed that his breath cures illness and his presence blesses those around him with masculinity. A window was built in the temple through which he could be seen, and on some holidays he was led by priests through the streets of the city decorated with jewelry and flowers.
In 1941 archaeologist Ahmed Badawi discovered the first remains in Memphis depicting the God APIs. It was revealed that the site, located within the territory of the temple of Ptah the Great, was a funeral chamber designed exclusively for embalming the sacred bull. A memorial plaque found in Saqqara shows that Nekhtenpo II ordered the restoration of this building, and dated items from the thirtieth Egyptian dynasty were discovered in the northern part of a room confirming the time of reconstruction in this part of the temple. The funerary burial places were probably part of the larger API temple cited by ancient sources. This sacred part of the temple will be the only one that has survived, it will confirm the words of Strabo and Diodorus, both of whom stated that the temple is located near the temple of Ptah.
Temple of Amun,
During the Twenty-First Dynasty, a shrine to the great god Amun was built by SI Amun to the south of the temple of Ptah. This temple (or temples) was most likely dedicated to the Theban Triad, which consisted of Amun, his wife MUT, and their son Khonsu. She was the counterpart in Upper Egypt of the three Memphites (Ptah, Sekhmet, and nefertum).
Aton temple,
A temple dedicated to Aten in Memphis is attested by hieroglyphs found inside the tombs of Memphis dignitaries at the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty, discovered in Saqqara. Among them, Tutankhamun, who began his career during the reign of his father Akhenaten, as a "servant of the Aten Temple in Menf.
Since the early excavations in Menf in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries AD, artifacts have been discovered in various parts of the city that indicate the existence of a building dedicated to the cult of the sun disk, Aten. The location of this building has been lost, and various hypotheses have been put forward on this topic based on where the remains of monuments of the Amarna era were discovered.
Statues of Ramses II
The ruins of ancient Minf have yielded a large number of sculptures representing Ramses II. Inside the museum in menf, there is a giant statue of him carved from huge limestone with a height of about 10 meters. It was discovered in 1820 near the southern gate of the temple of Ptah by the Italian archaeologist Giovanni Caviglia. Because the base and feet of the statue are cut off from the rest of the body, he is currently shown lying on his back. Some of the colors are still partially preserved, but the beauty of this sculpture lies in its flawless detailing of complex and delicate forms of human anatomy. The king wears the white crown of Upper Egypt.
Caviglia offered to send the statue to the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Leopold II, through the mediation of Ippolito Rosellini. Rossellini advised the King about the terrible expenses involved in transportation, and considered it necessary to cut the giant into pieces. The Wali of Egypt and Sudan Mohammed Ali Pasha offered to donate it to the British Museum, but the museum refused the offer due to the difficult task of shipping the huge statue to London. So she stayed in the archaeological area of MANF in the museum that was built to protect her.
This statue was one of the couple that historically decorated the eastern entrance to the temple of Ptah. The other, which was found in the same year also by Caviglia, was restored in the Fifties of the last century to its full height of 11 meters. It was first shown in Cairo's Bab al-Hadid Square, which was later renamed Ramses Square. Being an unsuitable location, in 2006 it was moved to a temporary place in Giza, where it was restored before being installed at the entrance to the Grand Egyptian Museum in January 2018. A replica of the statues stands in a suburb of Cairo, Heliopolis.
Menf cemetery,
Due to its antiquity and large population, MANF had several Tombs scattered along the valley, the most famous of which is Saqqara. In addition, the urban area consisted of tombs constructed to the west of the Great Temple. The holiness of these places inevitably attracted religious people and believers who sought either to make an offering to Osiris or for another burial.
The part of the city called "Ankh-Tawi" was already included in the Middle Kingdom necropolis. The Kings of the twenty-second dynasty expanded the western sector of the temple of Ptah, seeking to revive the past glory of the Ramesside era. Within this part of the site, a cemetery for high priests was created.
According to sources, the site also included a small temple or chapel of the goddess Bastet, which seems consistent with the presence of traces of the rulers of the dynasty after the cult of Bubastis. It was also in this region that funerary temples were consecrated by many kings of the modern Egyptian kingdom, the function of which Egyptologists equate with those played by the funerary temples of the Theban Kings.
Royal palaces,
Nineteenth-century
The early French expeditions paved the way for explorations of a deeper scale from the XIX century until today, carried out by pioneer explorers, Egyptologists, and major archaeological institutions. Here is a partial list:
The first excavations at the site were carried out by Caviglia and Sloan in 1820 and they discovered the Great Colossus of false Ramses II, currently on display in the museum.
Jean-Francois Champollion, on his trip to Egypt from 1828 to 1830 via menf, described the giant statue discovered by Caviglia and Sloan, made some excavations at the site, and deciphered many remains of writings. He promised to return with more resources and more time to study, but his sudden death in 1832 prevented the realization of this ambition.
Karl Richard Lepsius, during the Prussian expedition of 1842, conducted a quick survey of the ruins and created the first detailed map that would serve as the basis for all future explorations and excavations.
During the British era, the development of agricultural technology combined with the systematic cultivation of the Nile floodplain led to a great deal of accidental archaeological discoveries. Much of what was found falls into the hands of large European collectors who travel through the country on behalf of major museums in London, Paris, Berlin, and Turin. It was during one of these land cultivation operations that peasants accidentally discovered elements of a Roman temple of Mithras in 1847 near the village of Mithras. Perhaps this was the place where Eleven statues were found. A review of the "Ptolemaic statues of sarapion at Menf" indicated that they were probably built in the 3rd century with limestone and plaster, some standing and others sitting. In 1956, Rowe and Reiss suggested that this theme was similar to the mosaic of Plato's Academy. The statues were attributed to, Pindar (seated, identified by graffiti), an inscription on the back of his chair reading Dionysian, Demetrius the Valerian, Orphic, Hesiod, Homer sitting in the center (the head was restored), Protagoras, Thales, Heraclitus, Plato, and Aristotle.
From 1852 to 1854, Joseph Heikikian, who at that time was working for the Egyptian government, conducted geological surveys at the site, and on these occasions made several discoveries, such as the one at Kom el-Hamar (northeast of the temple of Ptah the great). These stones, decorated with inscriptions from the Amarna Period, originally belonged to the ancient temple of Aten in Memphis and were almost certainly reused in the foundations of another ruined monument. He also discovered a giant statue of Ramses II in pink granite.
This wave of archaeological discoveries has led to the emergence of a constant danger of seeing all these cultural riches leave Egyptian soil. Auguste Mariette, who visited Saqqara in 1850, became aware of the need to create an institution in Egypt responsible for the exploration and preservation of the country's archaeological treasures. He founded the Egyptian Antiquities Authority (EAO) in 1859, organized excavations in Memphis that revealed the first evidence of the Great Temple of Ptah, and unveiled the royal statues of the Old Kingdom.
Twentieth century,
The main excavations of the British Egyptologist Sir Flinders Petrie, conducted from 1907 to 1912, revealed the majority of the ruins as we see them today. The main finds at the site during these excavations included the column Hall of the temple of Ptah, the gate of Ramses II, The Great Alabaster Sphinx, and the Great Wall north of the abriz Palace. He also discovered the remains of the temple of Amun-simun, the temple of Ptah-Merneptah. His work was interrupted during the First World War, and later caught on by other archaeologists, who gradually revealed some forgotten relics of the ancient capital.
