Editing Memphis, Egypt (section)

===Memphite Necropolis===
{{Main|Memphite Necropolis}}
[[File:Pyramid of Djoser.jpg|thumb|left|The famed stepped [[Pyramid of Djoser]] at Saqqara, the Memphis necropolis]]
Because of its antiquity and its large population, Memphis had several [[List of necropoleis|necropoleis]] spread along the valley, including the most famous, [[Saqqara]]. In addition, the urban area consisted of cemeteries that were constructed to the west of the great temple. The sanctity of these places inevitably attracted the devout and the faithful, who sought either to make an offering to [[Osiris]], or to bury another.

The part of the city called ''Ankh-tawy'' was already included in the Middle Kingdom necropolis. Expansions of the western sector of the temple of Ptah were ordered by the kings of the [[Twenty-second dynasty of Egypt|Twenty-second Dynasty]], seeking to revive the past glory of the Ramesside age. Within this part of the site was founded a necropolis of the high priests.

According to sources, the site also included a chapel or an oratory to the goddess [[Bastet]], which seems consistent with the presence of monuments of rulers of the dynasty following the cult of [[Bubastis]]. Also in this area were the [[mortuary temple]]s devoted by various New Kingdom kings, whose function is paralleled by Egyptologists to that played by the [[Temples of a Million years]] of the Theban kings.