Memphis (, ; Bohairic ; ), or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first nome of Lower Egypt that was known as mḥw ("North"). Its ruins are located in the vicinity of the present-day village of Mit Rahina (), in Badrashin markaz (county), Giza Governorate, Egypt.
Along with the pyramid fields that stretch across a desert plateau for more than on its west, including the famous Pyramids of Giza, Memphis and its necropolis have been listed as a World Heritage Site. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.
According to legends related in the early third century BC by Manetho, a priest and historian who lived in the Ptolemaic Kingdom during the Hellenistic period of Egyptian history, the city was founded by King Menes. It was the capital of ancient Egypt (Kemet or Kumat) during both the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom and remained an important city throughout ancient Egyptian history.Bard, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, p. 694.Meskell, Lynn (2002). Private Life in New Kingdom Egypt. Princeton University Press, p.34Shaw, Ian (2003). The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, p.279 It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile Delta, and was a hub of bustling activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer (not to be confused with Peru-nefer at Avaris), featured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.
Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah (meaning "Enclosure of the ka of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aἴγυπτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) by Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.
The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the region itself. Its eventual downfall is believed to have been due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance was diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica (380 AD), which made Nicene Christianity the sole religion of the Roman Empire. By the Middle Ages, nearby Cairo had emerged as a major political and economic center.
Today, the ruins of the former capital offer fragmented evidence of its past. Many of its remains have become significant tourist destinations.
Names
Memphis has had several names during its history of almost four millennia. Its Ancient Egyptian name was Inebu-hedj (𓊅𓌉, translated as "the white walls"M. T. Dimick retrieved 14:19GMT 1.10.11Etymology website-www.behindthename.com retrieved 14:22GMT 1.10.11).National Geographic Society: Egypt's Nile Valley Supplement Map, produced by the Cartographic Division.
Because of its size, the city also came to be known by various other names that were the names of neighbourhoods or districts that enjoyed considerable prominence at one time or another. For example, according to a text of the First Intermediate Period,Hieratic Papyrus 1116A, of the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg; cf Scharff, Der historische Abschnitt der Lehre für König Merikarê, p.36 it was known as Djed-Sut ("everlasting places"), which is the name of the pyramid of Teti.Montet, Géographie de l'Égypte ancienne, (Vol I), pp. 28–29.
At one point the city was referred to as Ankh-Tawy (meaning "Life of the Two Lands"), stressing the strategic position of the city between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. This name appears to date from the Middle Kingdom (c. 2055–1640 BCE), and is frequently found in ancient Egyptian texts.Najovits, Simson R. Egypt, trunk of the tree: a modern survey of an ancient land (Vol. 1–2), Algora Publishing, p171. Some scholars maintain that this name was that of an area that contained a sacred tree, the western district of the city that lay between the great Temple of Ptah and the necropolis at Saqqara.Montet, Géographie de l'Égypte ancienne, (Vol I), p. 32.
At the beginning of the New Kingdom (c. 1550 BC), the city became known as mn-nfr (anglicized as Men-nefer, meaning "enduring and beautiful"), which became "Memfi" () in Bohairic Coptic. The name "Memphis" () is the Greek adaptation of the name that they had given to the pyramid of Pepi I, located west of the city.McDermott, Bridget (2001). Decoding Egyptian Hieroglyphs: How to Read the Secret Language of the Pharaohs. Chronicle Books, p.130
Some claim that the modern town Mit Rahina received its name from the ancient Egyptian later name for Memphis mjt-rhnt meaning "Road of the Ram-Headed Sphinxes" being a reference to the ancient causeway connecting Memphis and Saqqara, on which the procession of the dead bull travelled for burial in the Serapeum of Saqqara, but it's been rejected by numerous Egyptologists on the basis of the town's earlier name Minyat Rahina (), which could possibly be derived from the name of a Bedouin tribe.
While attempting to draw ancient Egyptian history and religious elements into that of their own traditions, the Greek poet Hesiod in his Theogony explained the name of the city by saying that Memphis was a 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.Pseudo-Apollodorus, "Bibliotheca", Β 1,4.
In the Bible, Memphis is called either Noph, or Moph.
The Muslim tradition adopted the Coptic etymology which operates with an etymon Māfah, derived from . It made the number significant in the following traditions relating to Memphis: it was thirty miles long, Manqāwus built it for his thirty daughters and Baysar lived here with his thirty children.
Attributes
Location The city of Memphis is south of Cairo, on the west bank of the Nile. The modern cities and towns of Mit Rahina, Dahshur, Abusir, Abu Gorab, and Zawyet el'Aryan, south of Cairo, all lie within the administrative borders of historical Memphis (). The city was also the place that marked the boundary between Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt. (The 22nd nome of Upper Egypt and 1st nome of Lower Egypt).
Population Today, the footprint of the ancient city is uninhabited. The closest modern settlement is the town of Mit Rahina. Estimates of historical population size differ widely among sources. According to Tertius Chandler, Memphis had some 30,000 inhabitants and was by far the largest settlement worldwide from the time of its foundation until approximately 2250 BC and from 1557 to 1400 BC.Chandler, Tertius ( thertgreg1987). Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth. K. A. Bard is more cautious and estimates the city's population to have numbered approximately 6,000 inhabitants during the Old Kingdom.Bard, Encyclopedia of the Archaeology of Ancient Egypt, p. 250
History
During the Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom, Memphis became the capital of Ancient Egypt for more than six consecutive dynasties. The city reached a peak of prestige under the Sixth Dynasty as a centre for the worship of Ptah, the god of creation and artworks. The alabaster sphinx that guards the Temple of Ptah serves as a memorial of the city's former power and prestige.National Geographic Society: Egypt's Nile Valley Supplement Map. (Produced by the Cartographic Division)Roberts, David (1995). National Geographic: Egypt's Old Kingdom, Vol. 187, Issue 1. The 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 after the Eighteenth Dynasty with the rise of Thebes and the New Kingdom, but was revived under the Persians, before falling firmly into second place following the founding of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important Egyptian city. Memphis remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Fustat (or Fostat) in 641 AD. Afterward it was largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. It was still an imposing set of ruins in the twelfth century, but soon became little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.
Legendary history The legend recorded by Manetho was that Menes, the first king to unite the Two Lands, established his capital on the banks of the Nile by diverting the river with dikes. The Greek historian Herodotus, who tells a similar story, relates that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point the suzerains of the country, paid particular attention to the condition of these dams so that the city was saved from the annual flooding.Herodotus, The Histories (Vol II), § 99 It has been theorised that Menes may have been a mythical king, similar to Romulus of Rome. Some scholars suggest that Egypt most likely became unified through mutual need, developing cultural ties and trading partnerships, although it is undisputed that the first capital of united Egypt was the city of Memphis.Manley, Bill (1997). The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt. Penguin Books. Some Egyptologists had identified the legendary Menes with the historical Narmer, who is represented on the Palette of Narmer conquering the territory of the Nile Delta in Lower Egypt and establishing himself as king. This palette has been dated to ca. 31st century BC and thus, would correlate with the legend of Egypt's unification by Menes. However, in 2012 an inscription depicting the visit of the predynastic king Iry-Hor to Memphis was discovered in the Sinai. Since Iry-Hor predates Narmer by two generations, the latter cannot have been the founder of the city. Alternatively, Epaphus (king of Egypt, whose wife was MemphisApollodorus, 2.1.4) is regarded in the Greek myths as the founder of Memphis, Egypt.Hyginus, Fabulae 149 & 275
Early Dynastic Period and Old Kingdom Little is known about the city of the Old Kingdom and before. It was the state capital of the powerful kings, who reigned from Memphis from the date of the First Dynasty. According to Manetho, during the earliest years of the reign of Menes, the seat of power was farther to the south, at Thinis. According to Manetho, ancient sources suggest the "white walls" (Ineb-hedj) or "fortress of the white wall" were founded by Menes. It is likely that the king established himself there to better control the new union between the two kingdoms that formerly were rivals. The complex of Djoser of the Third Dynasty, located in the ancient necropolis at Saqqara, would then be the royal funerary chamber, housing all the elements necessary to royalty: temples, shrines, ceremonial courts, palaces, and barracks.
The golden age began with the Fourth Dynasty, which seems to have furthered the primary role of Memphis as a royal residence where rulers received the double crown, the divine manifestation of the unification of the Two Lands. Coronations and jubilees such as the Sed festival were celebrated 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 attested with payments of food and other goods necessary for the funerary rites of royal and noble dignitaries.Breasted, Ancient Records of Egypt, pp. 109–110. This temple also is cited in the annals preserved on the Palermo Stone, and beginning from the reign of Menkaura, we know the names of the high priests of Memphis who seem to have worked in pairs, at least until the reign of Teti.