Editing Memphis, Egypt (section)

==Historical accounts and exploration==
The site of Memphis has been famous since ancient times and is cited in many ancient sources, including both Egyptian and foreign. Diplomatic records found on different sites have detailed the correspondence between the city and the various contemporary empires in the Mediterranean, [[Ancient Near East]], and Africa. These include for example the [[Amarna letters]], which detail trade conducted by Memphis with the sovereigns of [[Babylon]] and the various city-states of [[History of ancient Lebanon|Lebanon]]. The proclamations of the later Assyrian kings cite Memphis among its list of conquests.

===Sources from antiquity===
Beginning with the second half of the first millennium BC, the city was detailed more and more intensely in the words of ancient historians, especially with the development of trade ties with Greece. The descriptions of the city by travellers who followed the traders in the discovery of Egypt have proved instrumental in reconstructing an image of the glorious past of the ancient capital. Among the main classical authors are:
* [[Herodotus]], Greek historian, who visited and described the monuments of the city during the first [[Persian people|Persian]] [[Achaemenid]] rule in the fifth century BC <ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'' (Vol II), paragraphs 99, 101, 108, 110, 112, 121, 136, 153 and 176.</ref>
* [[Diodorus Siculus]], Greek historian, who visited the site in the first century BC, providing later information about the city during the reign of the Ptolemies <ref>Diodorus Siculus, ''Bibliotheca historica'' (Vol I), Ch. I, paragraphs 12, 15 and 24; Ch. II, paragraphs 7, 8, 10, 20 and 32.f</ref>
* [[Strabo]], the [[Hellenistic]] geographer, who visited during the Roman conquest in the late first century BC <ref>Strabo, ''Geographica'', Book XVII, chapters 31 and 32.</ref>

Subsequently, the city is often cited by other Latin or Greek authors, in rare cases providing an overall description of the city or detailing its cults, as do [[Suetonius]]<ref>Suetonius, ''The Twelve Caesars'', Part XI: Life of Titus.</ref> and [[Ammianus Marcellinus]],<ref>Ammianus Marcellinus, ''Roman History'', Book XXII, § XIV.</ref> who pay particular attention to the city's worship of Apis.

The city was plunged into oblivion during the Christian period that followed. Few sources are available to attest to the city's activities during its final stages.

It was not until the conquest of the country by the Arabs that a description of the city reappears, by which time it was in ruins. Among the major sources from this time:
* [[Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi (medieval writer)|Abd-al-Latif]], a famous geographer of Baghdad, who in the thirteenth century gives a description of the ruins of the site during his trip to Egypt
* [[Al-Maqrizi]], Egyptian historian in the fourteenth century, who visited the site and describes it in detail

===Early exploration===
[[Image:MemphisJamesRennell01.jpg|left|thumb|alt=Memphis, Egypt in 1799.|[[James Rennell]]'s map of Memphis and [[Cairo]] in 1799, showing the changes in the course of the [[Nile]] river]]
In 1652 during his trip to Egypt, [[Jean de Thévenot]] identified the location of the site and its ruins, confirming the accounts of the old Arab authors for Europeans. His description is brief, but represents the first step toward the exploration that will emerge after the development of [[archaeology]].<ref>Thévenot, ''Relation d’un voyage fait au Levant'', Book II, Ch. IV, p. 403; and Ch. VI, p. 429.</ref> The starting point of archaeological exploration in Memphis was [[Napoléon Bonaparte]]'s great [[French Campaign in Egypt and Syria|foray into Egypt]] in 1798. Research and surveys of the site confirmed the identification of Thévenot, and the first studies of its remains were carried out by scientists accompanying French soldiers. The results of the first scientific studies were published in the monumental ''[[Description de l'Égypte]]'', a map of the region, the first to give the location of Memphis with precision.

[[File:Jean Pascal Sebah, Statue de Ramses - Memphis - 18802.jpg|thumb|Statue of Ramesses II, uncovered in Memphis by Joseph Hekekyan]]

===Nineteenth century===
The early French expeditions paved the way for explorations of a deeper scope that would follow from the nineteenth century until today, conducted by leading explorers, Egyptologists, and major archaeological institutions. Here is a partial list:
* The first excavations of the site were made by Caviglia and Sloane in 1820 and they discovered the great colossus of Ramesses II lying, currently on display in the museum.
* [[Jean-François Champollion]], in his trip to Egypt from 1828 to 1830 through Memphis, described the giant statue discovered by Caviglia and Sloane, made a few digs at the site, and decrypted many of the epigraphic remains. He promised to return with more resources and more time to study, but his sudden death in 1832 prevented fulfillment of this ambition.<ref>Champollion-Figeac, ''l'Égypte Ancienne'', p. 63.</ref>
* [[Karl Richard Lepsius]], during the Prussian expedition of 1842, made a quick survey of the ruins and created a first detailed map that would serve as the basis for all future explorations and excavations.<ref>Lepsius, ''Denkmäler aus Aegypten und Aethiopien'', booklets of 14 February, 19 February, 19 March and 18 May 1843, pp. 202–204; and plates 9 and 10.</ref>

During the [[British Egypt|British era]] in Egypt, the development of agricultural technology along with the systematic cultivation of the Nile floodplains led to a considerable amount of accidental archaeological discoveries. Much of what was found would fall into the hands of major European collectors travelling the country on behalf of the great museums of [[List of museums in London|London]], [[List of museums in Paris|Paris]], [[List of museums and galleries in Berlin|Berlin]], and [[Museo Egizio|Turin]]. It was during one of these land cultivations that peasants accidentally discovered elements of a Roman temple of [[Mithras]] during 1847 near the village of Mit Rahina. It was probably at this location where eleven statues were found. A review of ''Les Statues Ptolémaïques du Sarapieion de Memphis'' noted they were probably built in the third century with limestone and stucco, some standing others sitting. In 1956, Rowe and Rees suggested that this theme was similar to Plato's Academy mosaic. The statues were attributed to, [[Pindar]] (seated, identified per a graffiti), an inscription at the back of his chair that reads Dionysi, [[Demetrius of Phalerum]], Orphic, aux oiseaux, Hesiode, [[Homer]] seated in the center (head was recovered), [[Protagoras]], [[Thales]], [[Heraclite]], [[Plato]]n (per inscription), and [[Aristote]].<ref name="RoweRees1956">{{cite web|url=https://www.escholar.manchester.ac.uk/api/datastream?publicationPid=uk-ac-man-scw:1m1914&datastreamId=POST-PEER-REVIEW-PUBLISHERS-DOCUMENT.PDF|author=Alan Rowe |author-link=Alan Rowe (archaeologist) |author2=B. R. Rees |author2-link=B. R. Rees |year=1956|publisher=Manchester|title=A Contribution to the Archaeology of The Western Desert: IV - The Great Serapeum of Alexandria}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|jstor=500375|title=Reviewed Work: Les Statues Ptolémaïques du Sarapieion de Memphis|author1=Ph. Lauer |author2=Ch. Picard |year=1957|doi=10.2307/500375|journal=Archaeological Institute of America|volume=61|issue=2|pages=211–215}}</ref>

From 1852 to 1854, Joseph Hekekyan, then working for the Egyptian government, conducted geological surveys on the site, and on these occasions made a number of discoveries, such as those at Kom el-Khanzir (northeast of the great temple of Ptah). These stones decorated with reliefs from the Amarna period, originally from the ancient temple of Aten in Memphis, had almost certainly been reused in the foundations of another ruined monument. He also discovered the great [[Statue of Ramesses II (Mit Rahina)|colossus of Ramesses II]] in pink granite.

This spate of archaeological discoveries gave birth to the constant risk of seeing all these cultural riches leaving Egyptian soil. [[Auguste-Édouard Mariette]], who visited Saqqara in 1850, became aware of the need to create an institution in Egypt responsible for the exploration and conservation of the country's archaeological treasures. He established the [[Supreme Council of Antiquities|Egyptian Antiquities Organisation]] (EAO) in 1859, and organised excavations at Memphis that revealed the first evidence of the great temple of Ptah, and uncovered the royal statues of the Old Kingdom.<ref>Mariette, ''Monuments divers collected in Egypt and in Nubia''.</ref>

The earliest published papyri [[Greek Magical Papyri]], may have originated from the region.<ref name="Betz">{{cite book|author=Hans Dieter Betz|url=http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo3684249.html|year=1992|title=The Greek Magical Papyri in Translation, Including the Demotic Spells, Volume 1|publisher=University of Chicago Press }}</ref>

===Twentieth century===
The major excavations of the British Egyptologist Sir [[Flinders Petrie|William Matthew Flinders Petrie]], conducted from 1907 to 1912, uncovered the majority of the ruins as seen today. Major discoveries on the site during these excavations included the pillared hall of the temple of Ptah, the pylon of Ramesses II, the great alabaster sphinx, and the great wall north of the palace of Apries. He also discovered the remains of the Temple of Amun of Siamon, and the Temple of Ptah of Merneptah.<ref>Petrie, ''Memphis I'' and ''Memphis II''.</ref> Many of his discoveries were documented by the ''London Times'' during May 1908.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 1908 |title=The British School of Archaeology in Egypt |work=The London Times}}</ref> His work was interrupted during the First World War, and would later be taken up by other archaeologists, gradually uncovering some of the forgotten monuments of the ancient capital.

A timeline listing the main findings:
* 1914 to 1921: the excavations of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] of the Temple of Ptah of Merneptah, which yield the discovery of the adjoining palace.
* 1942: the EAO survey, led by Egyptologist Ahmed Badawy, discovers the small Temple of Ptah of Ramesses, and the chapel of the tomb of Prince Shoshenq of the twenty-second dynasty.<ref>Badawy, ''Grab des Kronprinzen Scheschonk, Sohnes Osorkon's II, und Hohenpriesters von Memphis'', pp. 153–177.</ref>
* 1950: Egyptologist [[Labib Habachi]] discovered the chapel of Seti I, on behalf of the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation. The Egyptian government decided to transfer the pink granite colossus of Ramesses II to Cairo. It was placed before the city's [[Ramses Station|main train station]], in a square subsequently named ''Midân Ramesses'' for over fifty years, before being moved to another location in Giza in 2006 for restoration. It was later moved in January 2018 to the [[Grand Egyptian Museum]].<ref>{{cite news|title=''3,000-Year-Old Colossal Pharaoh Statue Moved to New Home''|url=https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/colossus-ramses-statue-move-cairo-egypt-museum#:~:text=Encased%20in%20a%20specially%2Dbuilt,the%20new%20Grand%20Egyptian%20Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210403230900/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/colossus-ramses-statue-move-cairo-egypt-museum#:~:text=Encased%20in%20a%20specially%2Dbuilt,the%20new%20Grand%20Egyptian%20Museum|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 April 2021|access-date= 21 April 2021|agency=National Geographic|date=25 January 2021}}</ref>
* 1954: the chance discovery by roadworkers of a necropolis of the Middle Kingdom at Kom el-Fakhri.<ref>El-Hitta, ''Excavations at Memphis of Kom el-Fakhri''.</ref>
* 1955 to 1957: Rudolph Anthes, on behalf of the University of Philadelphia, searched and cleared the small Temple of Ptah of Ramesses, and the embalming chapel of Apis.<ref>Anthes, works from 1956, 1957 and 1959.</ref>
* 1969: the accidental discovery of a chapel of the small Temple of Hathor.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>
* 1970 to 1984: excavations conducted by the EAO clear the small temple of Hathor, directed by Abdullah el-Sayed Mahmud, Huleil Ghali, and Karim Abu Shanab.
* 1980: excavations of the embalming chamber of Apis, and further studies by the [[American Research Center in Egypt]].<ref>Jones, ''The temple of Apis in Memphis''.</ref>
* 1982: Egyptologist Jaromir Málek studied and recorded the findings of the small temple of Ptah of Ramesses.<ref>Málek, ''A Temple with a Noble Pylon'', 1988.</ref>
* 1970, and 1984 to 1990: excavations by the [[Egypt Exploration Society]] of London. Further excavations of the pillared hall and pylon of Ramesses II; the discovery of granite blocks bearing the annals of the reign of [[Amenemhat II]]; excavations of the tombs of high priests of Ptah; research and major explorations at the necropolis near Saqqara.<ref>Jeffreys, ''The survey of Memphis'', 1985.</ref>
* 2003: renewed excavations of the small temple of Hathor by the EAO (now the Supreme Council of Antiquities).
* 2003 to 2004: Excavations by a combined Russian-Belgian mission in the great wall north of Memphis.