All Topics  
Memphis, Egypt

 
Memphis, Egypt

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Memphis, Egypt
 
 
  Topics Memphis, Egypt Topic Home

Memphis was the ancient capital of 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 language term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic Egypt period....
 of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
, and of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
 of Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom
New Kingdom

The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian History of Ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt....
, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history.

Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
 name was Ineb Hedj ("The White Walls").






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Memphis, Egypt'
Start a new discussion about 'Memphis, Egypt'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Egypt Hieroglyphs
Memphis was the ancient capital of 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 language term sepat came about during the Ptolemaic Egypt period....
 of Lower Egypt
Lower Egypt

Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. It refers to the Fertile Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
, and of the Old Kingdom
Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BCE when Ancient Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement ? this was the first of three so-called "Kingdom" periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile Valley ....
 of Egypt
Egypt

Egypt is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about , Egypt borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip and Israel to the northeast, the Red Sea to the east, Sudan to the south and Libya to the west....
 from its foundation until around 2200 BC and later for shorter periods during the New Kingdom
New Kingdom

The New Kingdom, sometimes referred to as the Egyptian Empire, is the period in ancient Egyptian History of Ancient Egypt between the 16th century BC and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt, and Twentieth dynasty of Egypt....
, and an administrative centre throughout ancient history.

Names

Its Ancient Egyptian
Egyptian language

Egyptian is a branch of the Afro-Asiatic languages language family along with the Chadic languages, Berber languages, Semitic languages, Cushitic languages and possibly Omotic languages languages....
 name was Ineb Hedj ("The White Walls"). The name "Memphis" is the Greek
Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
 corruption of the Egyptian name of Pepi I's (6th dynasty
Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of History of Egypt are often combined under the title "Old Kingdom"....
) pyramid
Pyramid

A pyramid is a building where the outer surfaces are triangular and converge at a point. The base of pyramids are usually quadrilateral or trilateral , meaning that a pyramid usually has four or five faces....
, Men-nefer, which became Menfe in Coptic
Coptic language

Coptic or Coptic Egyptian is the final stage of the Egyptian language, a northern Afro-Asiatic languages language spoken in Egypt until at least the seventeenth century....
. Memphis was also known in Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt

Ancient Egypt was an Ancient history civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile in what is now the modern nation of Egypt....
 as Ankh Tawy ("That which binds the Two Lands"), thus stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper
Upper Egypt

File:Ancient Egypt map-en.svgUpper Egypt is a narrow strip of land that extends from the Cataracts of the Nile section of Upper Egypt, between El-Ayait and Asyut 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 Crescent Nile Delta region, which stretches from the area between El-Aiyat and Zawyet Dahshur, south of modern-day Cairo, and the Mediterranean Sea....
. The Egyptian historian Manetho
Manetho

Manetho was an Egyptian historian and priest from Sebennytos who lived during the Ptolemaic dynasty, ca. 3rd century BC. Manetho wrote the Aegyptiaca ....
 referred to Memphis as Hi-Ku-P'tah ("Place 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
Ptah

In Egyptian mythology, 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....
"), which he wrote in Greek as A? ?? pto? (Ai-gu-ptos), giving us the Latin AEGYPTVS and the modern English Egypt. The term Copt
Copt

A Copt is a native Egyptian people Christianity. Copts form a major ethno-religious group that has ancient origins. Copts are Egyptians whose ancestors embraced Christianity in the first century....
 is also believed to be etymologically derived from this name. In the Bible
Bible

The Bible is the central religious text of Judaism and Christianity. The exact Books of the Bible is dependent on the religious traditions of specific denominations....
, Memphis is called Moph or Noph.

Location

The ruins of Memphis are 20 km (12 miles) south of Cairo
Cairo

Cairo , which means "the triumphant", is the Cairo and largest city of Egypt.It is the most populous metropolitan area in Egypt and is also one of the most populous in the world....
, on the west bank of the Nile
Nile

The Nile is a major north-flowing river in Africa, generally regarded as the List of rivers by length in the world.The Nile has two major tributary, the White Nile and Blue Nile, the latter being the source of most of the Nile's water and silt, but the former being the longer of the two....
. 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. It is known chiefly for several pyramids, two of which are among the oldest, largest and best preserved in Egypt....
, Saqqara
Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
, 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 that 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, Egypt....
, and Zawyet el'Aryan
Zawyet el'Aryan

Zawiyet 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....
, south of Cairo
Cairo

Cairo , which means "the triumphant", is the Cairo and largest city of Egypt.It is the most populous metropolitan area in Egypt and is also one of the most populous in the world....
, all lie within the administrative borders of historical Memphis .

History


Foundation

According to Herodotus, the city was founded around 3100 BC by Menes
Menes

Menes is the name of the Egyptian king credited with founding the First dynasty of Egypt, sometime around 3100 BC. Menes was seen as a founding figure for much of the history of Ancient Egypt, and was possibly a mythical founding king similar to Romulus and Remus for Ancient Rome....
, who united the two kingdoms of Egypt. It has been theorized that King Menes was possibly a mythical king, similar to Romulus and Remus
Romulus and Remus

Romulus and Remus are the traditional Founding Fathers of Rome, appearing in Roman mythology as the twin sons of the Vestal Virgin Rhea Silvia, fathered by the god of war, Mars ....
, the mythical first rulers of Rome. Most likely Egypt became unified through mutual need, developing cultural ties over time and trading partnerships though it is still understood that the first capital of Ancient Egypt was the lower Egyptian city of Memphis. The story most likely just got passed on to Herodotus. However. Egyptologists have also identified the legendary 'Menes' with the historical King Narmer
Narmer

Narmer was an Ancient Egypt Pharaoh who ruled in the 31st century BC. Thought to be the successor to the Predynastic Egypt King Scorpion and/or Ka , he is considered by some to be the unifier of Egypt and founder of the First dynasty of Egypt, and therefore the first king of all Egypt....
, 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. 3000 BC, and would thus correlate with the story of Egypt's unification by Menes.

Population

Estimates of population size differ widely. 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 BC and from 1557 to 1400 BC. K. A. Bard is more cautious and estimates the city's population to have amounted to about 6,000 inhabitants during the Old Kingdom.

Significance

Memphis reached a peak of prestige under the 6th Dynasty
Sixth dynasty of Egypt

The Third, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Dynasties of History of Egypt are often combined under the title "Old Kingdom"....
 as a centre of the cult of Ptah
Ptah

In Egyptian mythology, 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....
. It declined briefly after the 18th Dynasty
Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt

The Eighteenth Dynasty is perhaps the best known of all the dynasties of ancient Egypt. As well as a number of Egypt's most powerful pharaohs, it included Tutankhamun, whose tomb, uncovered by Howard Carter in 1922, was one of the greatest of all archaeological discoveries, being completely undisturbed by tomb robbers....
 with the rise of Thebes
Thebes, Egypt

Thebes was a city in Ancient Egypt located about 800 km south of the Mediterranean, on the east bank of the river Nile . It was the capital of Waset, the fourth Upper Egyptian Nome ....
 and was revived under the Persian
Persian Empire

The 'Persian Empire' was a series of successive Iranian or Persianization empires that ruled over the Iranian plateau, the original Persian homeland, and beyond in Southwest Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and the Caucasus....
 satrap
Satrap

Satrap was the name given to the governors of the provinces of ancient Medes and Persian Empire empires, including the Achaemenid Empire and in several of their heirs, such as the Sassanid Empire and the Hellenistic civilization empires....
s before falling firmly into second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, Alexandria remained the most important city. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641. 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 little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.

Remains

The remains of the temple of Ptah
Ptah

In Egyptian mythology, 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....
 and of Apis
Apis (Egyptian mythology)

In Egyptian mythology, Apis or Hapis , was a bull-deity worshipped in the Memphis, Egypt region.According to Manetho, his worship was instituted by Kaiechos of the Second dynasty of Egypt....
 have been uncovered at the site as well as a few statues, including two four-metre ones in alabaster of Ramesses II
Ramesses II

Ramesses II was the third Egyptian pharaoh of the Nineteenth dynasty of Egypt. He is often regarded as Ancient Egypt's greatest, most celebrated, and most powerful pharaoh....
. The Saqqara
Saqqara

Saqqara or Sakkara, Saqqarah is a vast, ancient burial ground in Egypt, serving as the necropolis for the Ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis, Egypt....
 necropolis
Necropolis

A necropolis is a large cemetery or burial place . Apart from the occasional application of the word to modern cemeteries outside large towns, the term...
 is close to Memphis.

There is now an open-air museum in Memphis. This museum has many Ancient Egyptian statues on display, the most notable one being the 10m (33ft) Colossus of Ramesses II
Colossus of Ramesses II

The Colossus of Ramesses II is a 10m tall statue of Ramesses II, an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh. It is currently held in a small museum in Memphis, Egypt....
, which is held in a small indoor building on the site.

Sources

  • Baines & Malek Cultural Atlas of Ancient Egypt, 2000. ISBN 0-8160-4036-2


External links