Editing Memphis, Egypt (section)

===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>