Editing Memphis, Egypt (section)

===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]]