DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3349#0009
MEMPHIS I
INTRODUCTION
i. The work at Memphis stands on a footing
different from any previous excavations of mine. A
season is only time enough to sample various parts
of such a site, and no subject there can be worked
out in less than two or three years. To clear the
temple sites alone would take probably twenty years,
as it is only possible to work for a few weeks after
the water has subsided. But the rapidly increasing
difficulties, owing to the constant and unchecked
appropriation of the site by the peasantry, make it
all the more urgent to take the place in hand as
soon as we can. I long hesitated about this excava-
tion. Two years ago Prof. Maspero suggested it to
me, and the next year Sir William Garstin urged the
desirability of it. At last the position of the British
School of Archaeology seemed so solid that we ven-
tured to attack so large a work. But it will need a
considerable budget, owing to the cost of labour on
such a scale, and the difficulties of private ownership.
As we hope to be for many years on the site
during the spring months (minor excavations else-
where will occupy the winters), it was needful to
build quarters raised well above the damp soil.
Mr. Ward and Herr Schuler accordingly went there
on Jan. 3 to begin building, and I followed on
Jan. 26 ; before the middle of February our quarters
were finished amid the rain, mud, and fogs which
abound at that time of year. Our excavations
started at the end of January, and went on till the
first week in May. Mr. Ward took charge of the
Merenptah temple, and other work to the south.
Mr. Mackay attended to the Ptah temple and the
great fort. Herr Schuler did some surveying. Mr.
Wainwright drew many of the plates here published)
and Mr. Gregg planned the small temple. Alto-
gether about three months of full work was spent
on the place, and a fair beginning of this great
undertaking was well started. I have to thank
Miss Herford for inking in several plates of pencil
drawings.
CHAPTER I
THE RECORDED TEMPLES OF MEMPHIS.
2. In beginning to examine so great a city as
Memphis, it is needful to glean all the information
we can from ancient authorities for our guidance.
References in the inscriptions, and the account by
Herodotos, are nearly all that remain to help us.
Diodoros mainly copied from Herodotos, and only
yields a few further points; and Strabo is un-
fortunately very brief about Memphis.
The whole size of the city is stated to have been
150 stadia in circumference (Diod. i, iv); if Greek
stadia, this equals \j\ miles. But as the delta is
described as being 750 stadia at the side, and 1300
along the sea (lengths of about 120 and 210 miles),
this would imply the use of a stadium of just
500 cubits of 20'6 inches. If this Egyptian measure
was used, the 150 would equal 24J miles. The plain
was about 4 miles wide, so the two ends of the city
would be 8 miles, leaving either 9 or 16 miles for the
sides, according to the stadium used, making it \\ or
8 miles long. The latter is apparently correct; the
length of the cemeteries along the desert suggests
about 8 miles for the city, from Dahshur to the
north of Abusir. The south side was probably at
a fortress, now Kafr el Qala', opposite Dahshur; and
the north side would then be at the group of villages
by El Manawat. This would be the size of northern
London from Bow to Chelsea, and from the Thames
up to Hampstead. Probably a large part of this
area consisted of gardens and fields belonging to the
various villages, which were agglomerated to form
the capital, like the component villages and towns
of London.
INTRODUCTION
i. The work at Memphis stands on a footing
different from any previous excavations of mine. A
season is only time enough to sample various parts
of such a site, and no subject there can be worked
out in less than two or three years. To clear the
temple sites alone would take probably twenty years,
as it is only possible to work for a few weeks after
the water has subsided. But the rapidly increasing
difficulties, owing to the constant and unchecked
appropriation of the site by the peasantry, make it
all the more urgent to take the place in hand as
soon as we can. I long hesitated about this excava-
tion. Two years ago Prof. Maspero suggested it to
me, and the next year Sir William Garstin urged the
desirability of it. At last the position of the British
School of Archaeology seemed so solid that we ven-
tured to attack so large a work. But it will need a
considerable budget, owing to the cost of labour on
such a scale, and the difficulties of private ownership.
As we hope to be for many years on the site
during the spring months (minor excavations else-
where will occupy the winters), it was needful to
build quarters raised well above the damp soil.
Mr. Ward and Herr Schuler accordingly went there
on Jan. 3 to begin building, and I followed on
Jan. 26 ; before the middle of February our quarters
were finished amid the rain, mud, and fogs which
abound at that time of year. Our excavations
started at the end of January, and went on till the
first week in May. Mr. Ward took charge of the
Merenptah temple, and other work to the south.
Mr. Mackay attended to the Ptah temple and the
great fort. Herr Schuler did some surveying. Mr.
Wainwright drew many of the plates here published)
and Mr. Gregg planned the small temple. Alto-
gether about three months of full work was spent
on the place, and a fair beginning of this great
undertaking was well started. I have to thank
Miss Herford for inking in several plates of pencil
drawings.
CHAPTER I
THE RECORDED TEMPLES OF MEMPHIS.
2. In beginning to examine so great a city as
Memphis, it is needful to glean all the information
we can from ancient authorities for our guidance.
References in the inscriptions, and the account by
Herodotos, are nearly all that remain to help us.
Diodoros mainly copied from Herodotos, and only
yields a few further points; and Strabo is un-
fortunately very brief about Memphis.
The whole size of the city is stated to have been
150 stadia in circumference (Diod. i, iv); if Greek
stadia, this equals \j\ miles. But as the delta is
described as being 750 stadia at the side, and 1300
along the sea (lengths of about 120 and 210 miles),
this would imply the use of a stadium of just
500 cubits of 20'6 inches. If this Egyptian measure
was used, the 150 would equal 24J miles. The plain
was about 4 miles wide, so the two ends of the city
would be 8 miles, leaving either 9 or 16 miles for the
sides, according to the stadium used, making it \\ or
8 miles long. The latter is apparently correct; the
length of the cemeteries along the desert suggests
about 8 miles for the city, from Dahshur to the
north of Abusir. The south side was probably at
a fortress, now Kafr el Qala', opposite Dahshur; and
the north side would then be at the group of villages
by El Manawat. This would be the size of northern
London from Bow to Chelsea, and from the Thames
up to Hampstead. Probably a large part of this
area consisted of gardens and fields belonging to the
various villages, which were agglomerated to form
the capital, like the component villages and towns
of London.