Ancient Egyptian Memphis

Ancient Egyptian Memphis

Ancient Egyptian Memphis are located on the west bank of the Nile River in northeastern Egypt, about 30 kilometers south of Cairo. In 3200 B.C., after the first unification of Upper and Lower Egypt, Pharaoh Menes founded the City of Memphis, which became the capital city of ancient Egypt for 5,000 years. During the long years, Memphis had several ups and downs and was finally destroyed in the 7th century A.D. It was recognized as a World Heritage Site in 1979. What is this legendary city like?

I set out on a journey of discovery with the fantasy and longing for the ancient City of Memphis. The road south, the bustle of Cairo city gradually disappeared behind, a piece of crops, rows of coconut groves, and the Egyptian uncle driving a donkey cart, yelling sheep Egyptian dolls, the town’s bazaar people come and go …… unknowingly a cool breeze came, with a fresh earthy smell, never is sunny Egypt surprisingly The first thing you need to do is to get a good idea of what you are getting into.

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The distance is getting closer and closer, over the small stone bridge, into a small village, after a thousand years of wind and rain, the traces of history has slowly faded, from the edge of the walk, it is difficult to even feel its existence, the entire site park is such an unremarkable, the area is also surprisingly small, may not even be compared to a standard soccer field.

Thousands of years of glory was gradually washed away by the bright colors of time, once recorded countless sorrow and happiness of the ancient country is now only a few broken walls, City of Memphis has become a dry name in the history books, the ancient city has no historical relics to hang on to, only the Memphis Museum can be visited. On the first floor, there is only a reclining statue of Ramses II and several small stone sculptures, this statue is about 14 meters high, carved from a single block of limestone, which is quite exquisite. Although the hieroglyphs on the statue are still visible after 3,000 years, the statue’s legs and left arm have been broken and it has to lie on the floor of the museum hall, while another statue of Ramses stands on the square of Ramses train station in downtown Cairo.

There is also a sphinx representing Amenophis II in the garden, standing more than 4 meters tall and carved from a single 80-ton block of rock. Dozens of statues of pharaohs are scattered throughout the gardens, most of which are in disrepair. The faces on the statues are either smiling, solemn, or contemplative as if the souls of the pharaohs are still resting on these granites. Think about many years ago, they also had opened up the land, also had iron horses and gold, and the world changed, now they have become legends, can only stand in the blue sky and white clouds of Egypt for a thousand years, not happy or sad.

When you come to City of Memphis, you must visit the Step Pyramid in Saqqara. This is actually a complex of several pyramids and temples, and the Step Pyramid is one of the most famous and well-preserved.

The owner of the Step Pyramid was King Zosel of the Third Dynasty of Ancient Egypt, built around 2700 B.C. It is the earliest pyramid in Egypt, and the earliest mausoleum built of stone in the world. Imhotep, the designer, and architect of the pyramid is even more famous than King Zosel. He first had his workers build the base on the ground, which was 140 meters long from east to west and 128 meters long from north to south. Then, the stones were cut into blocks and raised layer by layer on top of the original grave mounds and decorated the exterior with limestone. Finally, six layers were piled up in a stepped tower shape. The main chamber, which lies deep underground, contains King Zosel and five members of his family. The Step Pyramid was the achievement of Imhotep, who was worshipped as a god by the ancient Egyptians after his death and worshipped for all eternity because of his outstanding design.

The drive into the road to Saqqara was a desert landscape. The weather also gradually cleared, the sky was clear and blue, pure and transparent, sometimes cloudless, sometimes with a thin cloud. After a few turns, the pyramids of Saqqara appeared in front of us. The sky, the desert, the pyramids, and the camels are full of mysterious and ancient flavors, although it does not have the grandeur of the Pyramids of Khufu, its majestic simplicity is still awe-inspiring.

The wall in front of the pyramid is a broken wall with a high central part and two bottom ends. Entering through its middle door, there is a narrow passage with neatly arranged columns and some sculptures on both sides. Thousands of years ago, the pharaoh passed through this stone corridor and went to the square where he fought with the beasts to show his physical strength, declare his power and convince the people that he had been given divine power …… Walking through the passage, there is a large open space around the pyramid, with a long broken wall remnant on one side and a large underground passage on the other side, following which steps can reach the pyramid’s underground tombs.