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Near the modern village of Mit-Rahina, on the west bank of the Nile, archaeologists discovered the subtraction of the most important city in the time of the pharaohs, called Memphis by the Greeks and known in antiquity as Ineb-hedj, Men-nefer , Hut-ka-Ptah, Ankh-tawy or the biblical Mof. Memphis was the administrative capital of the ancient Egypt main royal residence and seat of the vizier and the High Priest of the national god Ptah view of the poor state of preservation of the remains, one must resort to the imagination to visualize his past greatness, the temples, pomp and royal ceremonies. Its cosmopolitan population included Hyksos, Libyans, Carians, Hebrews, Greeks, Persians and other minorities. The most famous workshops in the country, the art schools, the main shipyards, the central archives and the great court were in Memphis.
It all started with the construction of the "white wall" possibly the site of the primitive temple of Ptah, which tradition attributed to Menes, the first king of the dynasty.The visitor arrives at a modern archaeological garden in which statues, stelae and columns are displayed originating from Memphis, but from different periods, of particular interest is a large de-alabaster sphinx that is a meanwhile representing Amenhotep III (18th dynasty). Near the entrance to the garden, a two-story building was built to protect a colossal limestone statue. of Ramses II Dynasty), of a pair located in front of the main temple of Ptah of which there are very few remains.The other colossus, of granite, is today in front of the railway station of Cairo.Temples were excavated near the garden half-ruined Seti I and Ramses II (19th Dynasty) and the goddess Hathor An American expedition studied the nearby remains of the embalming site of the Apis ox. These animals (one at a time) were consecrated to the God-Ptah and were worshiped as living manifestations of the god. When an Apis died, after 25 years of prodigal and peaceful life, he was embalmed and buried in the Serapion of Sakara, the vast cemetery of Memphis.
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