Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/341

 MEMPHIS. position in the " narrows " of Aegypt, at a point ■where the Arabian and Libyan hills converge for the last time as they approach the Delta, and whence Memphis commanded the whole inland trade, whether ascending or descending the Nile. On the coins of Hadrian the wealth and fertility of Memphis are expressed by a figure of the Nile on their reverse, holding in his left hand a cornucopia. (Mionnet, Suppl. ix. No. 42.) The position of Memphis, again, as regarded the civilisation which Aegypt imparted or received, was most favourable. A capital in the Thebaid would have been too remote for communication with the East or Greece: a capital in the Delta would have been too remote from the Upper Kingdom, which would then have pertained rather to Aethiopia than to Aegypt; while the Delta itself, unsupported by the Thebaid, must in all probability have become an Assyrian province. But the intermediate situation of Memphis connected it both with the southern portions of the Nile valley, as far as its keys at Philae and Elephantina, and also through the isthmus of Suez and the coast, with the most civilised races of Asia and Europe. After the foundation of Alexan- dria, indeed, Memphis sunk into a provincial city. But the Saracen invaders in the seventh century confirmed the wisdom of Menes's choice, for they built both Old and New Cairo in the neighbourhood of Memphis, only changing the site from the western to the eastern bank of the river, because </jeiV natural alliances, unlike those of the Pharaohs, were with the Arabians and the Syrian Khalifates. The history of Memphis is in some measure that of Aegypt also. The great works of Menes were probably accomplished by successive monarchs, if not indeed by several dynasties. In the 1st period of the monarchy we h'nd that the 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th dynasties consisted of Memphite kings. Athotis, who is styled a son of Menes, is said to have built the palace, and thus stamped tlie new city as a royal residence. In the reign of Kaiechos, in the 2nd dynasty, the worship of Apis was established at Memphis, which was equivalent to rendering it a cathedral city. In the 7th dynasty we have a record of seventy Memphite kings, each reigning for one day ; this probably denotes an interregnum, and perhaps a foregone revolution; for. as Herodotus re- marks (ii. 147), the Aegyptians could not exist without a monarchy. After the 8th dynasty no series of Memphite kings occurs; and the royal families pass to Heracleopolis, in the first place; next, after the expulsion of the Shepherds, to Thebes ; afterwards to the Deltaic cities of Tanis, Bubastis, and Sals. The shepherd kings, though they formed their gre.it camp at Abaris, retained Jlemphis as the seat of civil government (Manetho, ap. Joseph, cont. Apion, i. 14); and although, after they withdrew into Syria. Thebes became the capital, yet we have a proof that the 18th dynasty — the house of Rameses — held their northern metropolis in high esteem. For Sesostris, or Rameses III. (Herod, ii. 108), on his return fro:n his Asiatic wars, set up in front of the temple of Ptah at Slemphis a colossal statue of liimself 45 feet high; and this is probably the co- lossal figure still lying among the mounds of ruin at Mitranieh. Under the 25th dynasty, while the Aethiopians occupied Aegypt, Memphis was again the seat of a native government,— apparently the result of a revolution, which set Sethos, a priest, upon the throne. A victory obtained by this mon- MEMPHIS. 325 arch over the Assyrians was commemorated by a statue in the temple of Ptah — Sethos holding in his hand a mouse, the symbol of destruction. (Horapol. Hieroglyph, i. 50; comp. Aelian, //. Anim. vi. 41; Strab. xiii. p. 604: Herod, ii. 141.) Under Psam- metichus (b. c. 670) the Phoenician soldiers, who had aided him in gaining the crown, were established by him in " the Tyrian camp," — at le.ast this seems to be the meaning of Herodotus (ii. 1 12), — but were removed by his successor Amasis into the capital itself, and into that quarter of it called the " White Castle." Of all the Aegyptian cities, Slemphis suffered the most severely from the cruelty and fanaticism of the Persians. Its populace, excited by the defeat of the Aegyptian army at- Pelusium, put to death the Persian herald who summoned the Memphians to surrender. The vengeance of the conqieror is re- lated by Herodotus. Memphis became the head- quarters of a Persian garrison; and Cambyses, on iiis return from his unfortunate expedition against Aethiopia, was more than ever incensed against the vanquished. Psammei.itus, the last of the Pharaohs, was compelled to put himself to death (Herod, iii. 15); Cambyses slew the god Apis with his own hand, and massacred his priests; he profaned the Temple of Ptah and burned the images of the Cabeiri (id. ih. 32). Under Darius Aegypt was mildly governed, and his moderation was shown by his acquiescence in the high-priest's refusal to permit the erection of a statue to him at Memphis. (Herod, ii. 110; Diodor. i. 58.) The next important notice of this city is in the reign of Artaxerxes I. Inaros, son of Psamme- tichus, had revolted from Persia, and called in the aid of the Athenians. (Diod. xi. 71.) The Per- sians were defeated at Papremis in the Delta {ih. 74; comp. Mannert, Geogr. x. p. 591), fled to Mem- phis, and were besieged in the " White Castle." (Thucyd. i. 108 — 109.) The siege lasted fur more than a year (Diodor. ii. 75), and was at length raised (Ctesias, c. 33), and the authority of the king of Persia restored. Under Nectanebus I., the first monarch of the Sebennytic dynasty, Memphis expelled its Persian garrison, nor did it return to its allegiance, until Nectanebus II., the last repre- sentative of thirty dynasties, was driven into Ae- thiopia. (Athenaeus, iv. p. 150.) From this period Memphis loses its metropolitan importance, ;ind sinks to the level of the chief provincial city of Aegypt. If, as Diodorus remarks (i. 51), Thebes sur- passed Jlemphis in the grandeur of its temples, the latter city was more remarkable for the number of its deities and sacred buildings, and for its secular and commercial edifices. It might, indeed, as regards its shrines, be not improperly termed the Pantheon of the land of Misraim. The following were its principal religious structures, and they seem to include nearly all the capital objects of^ Aegyptian worship except the goat and the crocodile: — 1. The temple of Isis, was commenced at a very early period, but only completed by Amasis, B.C. 564. It is described as sp.acious and beautiful (Herod, ii. 176 ; Heliodor. Aethiop. vii. 2, 8, 11), but inferior to the Iseium at Busiris (Herod, ii. 59, 61). 2. The temple of Proteus, founded probably by Phoenicians, who had a commercial establishment at Memphis. It was of so early date as to be asciibcd to the era of the Trojan War. (Plutarch, de Gen. Socrat. c. 7.) 3. The temple of Apis, completed in the reign of T 3