DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4372#0330
314
would be tilled, and sown with wheat and beans. The remains
of two other propyla are still very conspicuous at the West and
South entrances.
All these several remains would have formed but a very incon-
siderable part even of the principal approaches to the temple;
the body of which, the pronaon, the portico, and the sekos, were
probably built on the spot now under water. This is a sin-
gular confirmation of the narrative of Herodotus;—that if the
dykes, which Menes had constructed one hundred stadia above
Memphis, were not regularly repaired, the city would be inun-
dated. All these walls and columns have been carefully carried
away ; no vestiges of any foundations remain : and, after the suc-
cessive generations of Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs,
who have plundered Memphis, in the wantonness of victory or
for the purpose of transferring its monuments to Alexandria or to
Cairo, we may rest satisfied that enough is left to leave no doubt
of the site of this capital of the Pharaohs. Indeed the ruins
lately discovered in the neighbourhood of Metrahenny, and
which seem to have escaped the notice of Shaw, Pococke, Nor-
den, and Bruce, furnish a full reply to the objections of any of
those antiquaries who have placed Memphis several miles further
North, and even at Gizeh. As for the deity who presided in
the temple, this was probably dedicated to Vulcan, one of the
twelve primary gods of Egypt. Herodotus says that Vulcan's
temple built by Menes was a most wonderful structure.
There were here likewise, a temple dedicated to Apis or Osiris,
another to Venus, and a fourth to Scrapis. Of this last Strabo
says that it was in a very sandy place; of course in the neigh-
bouring Desert, or on the skirts of it. Columns of sand were
here frequently raised by the wind, so as to make it dangerous
for the passenger; and the heads of sphinxes were to be seen,
the
would be tilled, and sown with wheat and beans. The remains
of two other propyla are still very conspicuous at the West and
South entrances.
All these several remains would have formed but a very incon-
siderable part even of the principal approaches to the temple;
the body of which, the pronaon, the portico, and the sekos, were
probably built on the spot now under water. This is a sin-
gular confirmation of the narrative of Herodotus;—that if the
dykes, which Menes had constructed one hundred stadia above
Memphis, were not regularly repaired, the city would be inun-
dated. All these walls and columns have been carefully carried
away ; no vestiges of any foundations remain : and, after the suc-
cessive generations of Persians, Greeks, Romans, and Arabs,
who have plundered Memphis, in the wantonness of victory or
for the purpose of transferring its monuments to Alexandria or to
Cairo, we may rest satisfied that enough is left to leave no doubt
of the site of this capital of the Pharaohs. Indeed the ruins
lately discovered in the neighbourhood of Metrahenny, and
which seem to have escaped the notice of Shaw, Pococke, Nor-
den, and Bruce, furnish a full reply to the objections of any of
those antiquaries who have placed Memphis several miles further
North, and even at Gizeh. As for the deity who presided in
the temple, this was probably dedicated to Vulcan, one of the
twelve primary gods of Egypt. Herodotus says that Vulcan's
temple built by Menes was a most wonderful structure.
There were here likewise, a temple dedicated to Apis or Osiris,
another to Venus, and a fourth to Scrapis. Of this last Strabo
says that it was in a very sandy place; of course in the neigh-
bouring Desert, or on the skirts of it. Columns of sand were
here frequently raised by the wind, so as to make it dangerous
for the passenger; and the heads of sphinxes were to be seen,
the