page_title: Memphis, Egypt
section_title: New Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Memphis, Egypt / History / New Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: Relief représentant le grand prêtre de Ptah Sheshonq, fils d'Osorkon II - XXIIe dynastie égyptienne - Jardin du Musée du Caire
context_page_description: Memphis was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina, 20 km south of Giza in Greater Cairo, Egypt.
  According to legend, as related by Manetho, the city was founded by the Pharaoh Menes. It was the capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom and remained an important city throughout ancient Egyptian history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile Delta, and was home to bustling activity. Its principal port, Peru-nefer, featured a high density of workshops, factories, and warehouses that distributed food and merchandise throughout the ancient kingdom. During its golden age, Memphis thrived as a regional centre for commerce, trade, and religion.
  Memphis was believed to be under the protection of the god Ptah, the patron of craftsmen. Its great temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, was one of the most prominent structures in the city. The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aἴγυπτoς by the historian Manetho, is believed to be the etymological origin of the modern English name Egypt.
  The history of Memphis is closely linked to that of the country itself.
context_section_description: The 18th Dynasty thus opened with the victory over the invaders by the Thebans. Although the reigns of Amenhotep II (r. 1427–1401/1397 BC) and Thutmose IV (r. 1401/1397–1391/1388 BC) saw considerable royal focus in Memphis, power remained for the most part in the south. With the long period of peace that followed, prosperity again took hold of the city, which benefited from her strategic position. Strengthening trade ties with other empires meant that the port of Peru-nefer (literally means "Bon Voyage") became the gateway to the kingdom for neighbouring regions, including Byblos and the Levant.
  In the New Kingdom, Memphis became a centre for the education of royal princes and the sons of the nobility. Amenhotep II, born and raised in Memphis, was made the setem—the high priest over Lower Egypt—during the reign of his father. His son, Thutmose IV received his famed and recorded dream whilst residing as a young prince in Memphis. During his exploration of the site, Karl Richard Lepsius identified a series of blocks and broken colonnades in the name of Thutmose IV to the east of the Temple of Ptah. They had to belong to a royal building, most likely a ceremonial palace.
  The founding of the temple of Astarte (Mespotamian/Assyrian goddess of fertility and war; Babylonian = Ishtar), which Herodotus mistakes as being dedicated to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, may also be dated to the 18th dynasty, specifically the reign of Amenhotep III (r. 1388/86–1351/1349 BC). The greatest work of this pharaoh in Memphis, however, was a temple called "Nebmaatra united with Ptah", which is cited by many sources from the period of his reign, including artefacts listing the works of Huy, the High Steward of Memphis. The location of this temple has not been precisely determined, but a number of its brown quartzite blocks were found to have been reused by Ramesses II (r. 1279–1213 BC) for the construction of the small temple of Ptah. This leads some Egyptologists to suggest that the latter temple had been built over the site of the first.
  According to inscriptions found in Memphis, Akhenaten (r. 1353/51–1336/34 BC; formerly Amenhotep IV) founded a temple of Aten in the city. The burial chamber of one of the priests of this cult has been uncovered at Saqqara. His successor Tutankhamun (r. 1332–1323 BC; formerly Tutankhaten) relocated the royal court from Akhenaten's capital Akhetaten ("Horizon of the Aten") to Memphis before the end of the second year of his reign. Whilst in Memphis, Tutankhamun initiated a period of restoration of the temples and traditions following the monotheistic era of Atenism, which was regarded as heresy.
  The tombs of important officials from his reign, such as Horemheb and Maya, are situated in Saqqara, although Horemheb was eventually buried in the Valley of the Kings after reigning as pharaoh himself (r. 1319–1292 BC). He had been Commander of the Army under Tutankhamun and Ay. Maya was Overseer of the Treasury during the reigns of Tutankhamun, Ay, and Horemheb. Ay had been Tutankhamun's chief minister, and succeeded him as pharaoh (r. 1323–1319 BC). To consolidate his power he married Tutankhamun's widow Ankhesenamun, the third of the six daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti. Her fate is unknown. Horemheb did likewise when he married Nefertiti's sister Mutnodjemet.
  There is evidence that, under Ramesses II, the city developed new importance in the political sphere through its proximity to the new capital Pi-Ramesses. The pharaoh devoted many monuments in Memphis and adorned them with colossal symbols of glory. Merneptah (r. 1213–1203 BC), his successor, constructed a palace and developed the southeast wall of the temple of Ptah. For the early part of the 19th dynasty, Memphis received the privileges of royal attention, and it is this dynasty that is most evident among the ruins of the city today.
  With the 21st and 22nd Dynasties, we see a continuation of the religious development initiated by Ramesses. Memphis does not seem to suffer a decline during the Third Intermediate Period, which saw great changes in the geopoli
caption: Relief representing the High Priest of Ptah, Shoshenq.
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