Memphis
The origins of the capital Memphis
The city of Memphis is located 20 km south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile.
modern towns and cities of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Abusir, Abu Gorab and Zawyet el’Aryan, south of Cairo,
are all within the administrative boundaries of historic Memphis.
city was also where the border between Upper and Lower Egypt was marked.
The 22nd nome of Upper Egypt and 1st nome of Lower Egypt. That’s why King Menes/Narmer has the first king of
the 1st dynasty that made Egypt one country chose this place and made it the capital.
Memphis meaning White walls. And this unification would have been represented in Narmer’s Conquering Palette
the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt and the establishment of himself as pharaoh.
This palette is dated to ca. 31st century BC, and would therefore correlate with the story of the unification of Egypt by Menes.
However, in 2012 an inscription recording the visit of the predynastic king Iry-Hor to Memphis was discovered in Sinai.
Since Hor-Iry, Narmer predates by two generations, the latter cannot have been the founder of the city.
Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt for more than eight successive dynasties during the Old Kingdom.
The city reached a peak of prestige under the 6th Dynasty as a center for the worship of Ptah, the god of creation and works of art.
The alabaster sphinx that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a reminder of the city’s former power and prestige.
Memphis triad, consisting of the creator god Ptah, his consort Sekhmet, and their son Nefertem,
formed the main focus of worship in the city.
Memphis declined in prestige shortly after the 18th Dynasty with the rise of Thebes and the New Kingdom,
and was revived under the Persians after the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire,
Alexandria remained the most important Egyptian city. Memphis remained Egypt’s second city until the founding of Fustat in 641 AD.
It was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements.
It was still an imposing collection of ruins in the 12th century, but quickly became smaller
more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.
Little is known about the city of the Old KingdomIt was the capital of the divine pharaohs, who ruled from Memphis from the date of the 1st Dynasty. During the early years of Menes’ reign, according to Manetho, the seat of power was further south, at Thinis (Fayum) here established by the Kings
of the Middle Kingdom established a new capital.
According to Manetho, ancient sources suggest that the “white walls” (Ineb-hedj) or “fortress of the white wall” was founded by Menes.
It is likely that the king settled here to better control this new union between the two rival kingdoms.
The complex of Djoser of the 3rd dynasty, located in the ancient necropolis at Saqqara,
would then be the first royal tomb, followed by the temples, shrines, ceremonial courts, palaces and barracks.
The golden age began with the 4th Dynasty, which appears to be Memphis’ primary role as a royal residence,
where rulers received the Double Crown, the divine revelation of the union of the two countries.
Coronations and anniversaries such as the Sed festival were celebrated in the temple of Ptah.
The first signs of these ceremonies were found in Djoser’s rooms.
The first signs of these ceremonies were found in Djoser’s rooms.
The importance of the shrine is attested during this period with payments of food and other goods required for the funeral rites of the royal and noble dignitaries.
This shrine is also mentioned in the annals preserved on the Palermo Stone, and early in the reign of Menkaure,
we know the names of the high priests of Memphis who appear to work in pairs at least until the reign of Teti (6th Dynasty).
The architecture of this period was similar to that at Giza, royal necropolis of the Fourth Dynasty,
where recent excavations have revealed that the main focus of the kingdom at that time centered on the construction of the royal tomb.
A strong suggestion of this concept is the etymology of the name of the city itself, which is coeval with that of the pyramid of Pepi I of the 6th Dynasty.
Memphis was toen de erfgenaam van een lange artistieke en architectonische praktijk, voortdurend aangemoedigd door de monumenten van voorgaande heersers.
All these necropolises were surrounded by camps inhabited by craftsmen and workers,
dedicated exclusively to the construction of the royal tombs. Spread over several kilometers in all directions,
Memphis formed a true megalopolis, with temples connected by sacred temenos, and ports linked by roads and canals. The perimeter of the city thus gradually expanded into a huge urban expansion.
The center remained around the temple complex of Ptah.
By the beginning of the Middle Kingdom, the pharaoh’s capital and court had moved south to Thebes,
leaving Memphis in the shadows for a time. Although the seat of political power had shifted,
Memphis remained the most important commercial and artistic center, as evidenced by the discovery of handicraft districts and cemeteries located west of the Temple of Ptah.
With the invasion of the Hyksos, and their rise to power ca. 1650 BC, the city of Memphis was besieged.
After the conquest, many monuments and statues of the old capital were dismantled,
Evidence of royal propaganda has been uncovered and attributed to the Theban kings of the 17th dynasty.
The 18th dynasty thus opened with the victory over the invaders by the Thebans.
Although the reigns of Amenhotep II and Thutmose IV established a royal emphasis in Memphis,
power remained for the most part in the south. With the long period of peace that followed, and prosperity regained control over the city,
that benefited from its strategic position. Strengthening trade relations with other countries surrounding Egypt.
In the New Kingdom, Memphis became a center for the education of royal princes and sons of the nobility.
Born and raised in Memphis, Amenhotep II became the Setem—the great priest of Lower Egypt—during his father’s reign.
His son, Thutmose IV, received his famous and recorded dream as a young prince in Memphis.
Karl Richard Lepsius identified a series of blocks and broken colonnades in the name
of Thutmose IV to the east of the Temple of Ptah.
They must have belonged to a royal building, probably a ceremonial palace.
Akhnaton founded a temple in Aton’s honor in Memphis, as evidenced by inscriptions found in the city.
The burial chamber of one of the priests Mery-Neith/Re of this cult has been uncovered in Sakkara.
His successor Tutankhamun moved the royal court from Akhnaton’s capital to Akhetaton,
returned to Memphis before the end of the second year of his reign.
The tombs of the most important officials of his reign, from both Horemheb and Maya, are located in Saqqara,
although Horemheb was eventually buried in the Valley of the Kings after being king himself as successor to Ay/Eje.
Maya was custodian of the Treasury during the reign of Tutankhamun, Ay/Eje was prime minister and high priest.
