Memphis was the first capital of unified ancient Egypt, founded around 3100 BCE by Pharaoh Menes when he unified Upper and Lower Egypt under a single crown. The city sat on the west bank of the Nile, 24 kilometres south of modern Cairo, and served as Egypt’s political and administrative centre for most of the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BCE). At its peak Memphis was the largest city in the world. Today the ancient city is mostly buried under modern Mit Rahina village and surrounding palm groves, but a 2-hectare open-air museum on the original temple precinct displays the surviving monumental sculpture, including the famous reclining colossus of Ramses II and the alabaster Sphinx. Most visitors see Memphis as part of a Cairo Pyramids, Saqqara and Memphis day tour that pairs the city with the Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara and the Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza.
Memphis was founded around 3100 BCE by Pharaoh Menes (sometimes identified with Narmer), the first ruler to unify Upper and Lower Egypt under a single crown. The city’s original name was Inebu-hedj, meaning “white walls,” after the polished white-plastered fortification surrounding the royal palace. The name “Memphis” comes from a Greek corruption of Men-nefer, the throne name of Pepi I’s pyramid complex, which later attached to the whole city.
For most of the Old Kingdom (c. 2686-2181 BCE) Memphis was Egypt’s political, religious, and administrative capital. The patron god was Ptah, the creator deity, whose Great Temple complex covered roughly 12 hectares. Around it stood the royal palace, the administrative quarters, embassy quarters for foreign delegations, and necropolis fields stretching west to Saqqara and Dahshur. At its Old Kingdom peak, Memphis had an estimated population of 30,000 to 50,000 people, making it the largest city in the world at the time.
The capital moved several times over the next two millennia (to Thebes during the New Kingdom, briefly to Akhetaten during the Amarna heresy, to Pi-Ramesses under Ramses II), but Memphis remained an important religious and commercial centre throughout. The city continued to function under Ptolemaic and Roman rule. The decline came after the Arab conquest of Egypt in 641 CE, when the new capital of Fustat (later absorbed into Cairo) was founded just downstream. Memphis was gradually abandoned for stone, its temples quarried for building material throughout the medieval period.
Modern archaeology at Memphis began with Napoleon’s 1798 expedition. Major excavations followed under Auguste Mariette (1850s-1880s) and continue today under the Egypt Exploration Society. Recent finds include a 2017 discovery of a 7-metre quartzite statue probably representing Psamtik I (664-610 BCE), recovered in 200 pieces from a flooded pit in a Mit Rahina backyard.
Memphis was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979 as part of “Memphis and its Necropolis, the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur,” together with the necropolis sites that served the ancient capital.
The recumbent colossus of Ramses II is Memphis’s headline exhibit. The 10-metre limestone statue lies on its back inside a purpose-built hall because the lower legs and feet are missing and it cannot stand. Discovered in 1820 by Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia in the ruins of the Ptah Temple, the statue is one of the finest surviving portraits of Ramses II. A second-floor viewing balcony lets you photograph the face from above.
The alabaster Sphinx of Memphis outside the colossus hall is the largest calcite (Egyptian alabaster) sculpture ever found. 8 metres long, 4 metres tall, and 80 tonnes in weight, it dates to the New Kingdom and probably guarded the Temple of Ptah. The face is weathered but the proportions and translucent stone are extraordinary.
The open-air sculpture park displays surviving fragments from the Ptah Temple complex: a smaller standing Ramses II colossus, the Hathor capital, several headless royal statues, sphinxes, sacred stelae, and the so-called tablet of the bird people with hieroglyphic inscriptions.
The Temple of Ptah foundation outlines are visible in the field east of the museum hall. The original temple covered 12 hectares; what remains are foundation courses, occasional column bases, and depressions marking former sanctuaries.
The Embalming Hall of the Apis Bulls to the south-west of the main site is where the sacred Apis bulls were mummified before burial in the Serapeum at Saqqara. The hall contains massive alabaster embalming tables still in place.
The Mit Rahina ethnographic museum in a small adjacent building displays everyday-life artifacts from the village’s archaeological digs: pottery, jewellery, household tools, and Coptic-era textiles.
Memphis sits in Mit Rahina village, 24 km south of central Cairo and 17 km south of the Giza Plateau. Most visitors combine Memphis with Saqqara (12 km further west) and Dahshur (15 km south-west) as a single full-day archaeological outing. From central Cairo allow 60 to 75 minutes by car; from Giza 30 to 45 minutes; from the Cairo airport 75 to 90 minutes.
Opening hours: 09:00 to 17:00 daily (October to April); 08:00 to 17:00 (May to September). The site closes earlier than Giza, so plan Memphis for the morning or early afternoon.
Entrance fee (2026, subject to change): approximately 180 EGP (around $4 USD) for foreign-adult entry. The Memphis ticket is sometimes bundled with Saqqara as a combo ticket of around 650 EGP that also covers the Step Pyramid of Djoser, the Pyramid of Unas, and selected mastaba tombs at Saqqara. Egyptian nationals and students with international ID receive significant discounts.
Best time of day: mid-morning between 09:30 and 11:30 for cool weather and the best light inside the colossus hall (which has skylights). Mid-afternoon visits often coincide with school groups. Avoid the 14:00-15:00 lunch window when local tour groups peak.
How long to allow: 60 to 90 minutes for the open-air museum and sculpture park. Add 15 minutes for the Apis Embalming Hall if it is open. Memphis is typically the second stop in a Saqqara-Memphis-Dahshur day, after the Step Pyramid and before Dahshur’s Bent Pyramid.
Photography: permitted throughout the open-air museum and inside the colossus hall. No flash inside the hall. Tripods require a separate permit.
Accessibility: the main museum hall is single-storey and partially wheelchair-accessible from the main entrance. The open-air sculpture park has uneven ground and step thresholds at some sculpture bases. The Apis Embalming Hall is harder to access without assistance.
Pair Memphis with Saqqara and Dahshur in one day, not standalone. The site itself is small (60-90 minutes is plenty) and not worth a standalone trip from Cairo. The pyramid fields of Saqqara and Dahshur are 15-30 minutes’ drive away and complete the Old Kingdom capital story.
Read the inscription on the Ramses II colossus. The cartouche on the chest reads “User-maat-ra Setep-en-ra Ramses Mery-Amun,” the throne name and personal name of Ramses II. Knowing what you are looking at is the difference between a photo opportunity and an actual encounter with a 3,250-year-old royal portrait.
Walk the foundation outlines of the Ptah Temple. Most visitors skip this and head straight back to the bus after the colossus. The foundation lines tell you the scale of what was once here: 12 hectares of monumental temple, larger than Karnak’s main precinct in floor area.
Skip the souvenir touts at the parking lot. Same problem as at Giza, with the added complication that Memphis has fewer arriving visitors so the touts are more aggressive. Wait until you are back in Khan El Khalili that evening for shopping.
Hot weather is brutal here. Memphis has very little shade outside the colossus hall. From May through September the open-air park is hot enough by 11:00 to be genuinely uncomfortable. Either go at opening or save for a winter trip.
Memphis features in our Saqqara-Memphis-Dahshur day tours and most longer Cairo combination trips. The three best options:
Every Egypt Day Tours visit to Memphis includes private air-conditioned transport, site entry tickets, a licensed Egyptologist guide, and bottled water.
The Ramses II colossus is bigger and more intact than any photograph prepares you for. Our Egyptologist read the cartouche to us and pointed out the carved details of the kilt and the dagger handle.
Pairing Memphis with Saqqara and Dahshur in one day is the right call. The three sites together tell the whole Old Kingdom story in a way that Giza alone cannot.
The alabaster Sphinx outside the colossus hall is the unsung Memphis treasure. 80 tonnes of translucent calcite, 3,500 years old, mostly ignored by visitors who rush back to the bus.
Ancient Memphis sits in Mit Rahina village, 24 kilometres south of central Cairo on the west bank of the Nile. The site is reached by private car in 60 to 75 minutes from downtown Cairo, 30 to 45 minutes from the Giza Plateau, and 75 to 90 minutes from Cairo International Airport. The most common access is as part of a combined Saqqara-Memphis-Dahshur day tour.
Memphis was founded around 3100 BCE by Pharaoh Menes when he unified Upper and Lower Egypt under a single crown. The location at the junction between the Nile Delta and the Nile Valley gave the new capital strategic control over both regions. For most of the Old Kingdom (2686-2181 BCE) Memphis remained the political, religious, and administrative centre of Egypt, and at its peak it was the largest city in the world.
Most of the ancient city is buried under modern Mit Rahina village and surrounding palm groves. The visible remains are concentrated in a 2-hectare open-air museum on the original Temple of Ptah precinct. The headline exhibit is the 10-metre reclining colossus of Ramses II inside a purpose-built hall. The site also displays the alabaster Sphinx of Memphis, a smaller standing colossus, foundation outlines of the Ptah Temple, and the Apis Bull Embalming Hall.
Allow 60 to 90 minutes for the open-air museum and sculpture park. The site is small and Memphis is typically combined with Saqqara and Dahshur as a single full-day tour rather than visited standalone. A combined Memphis-Saqqara-Dahshur day runs 7 to 8 hours from Cairo.
Yes, most often as part of a Saqqara-Memphis-Dahshur combination day or paired with the Giza pyramids on longer day trips. Standalone Memphis visits are uncommon because the site is small and the drive from Cairo is the same whether you stop at one site or three.
The Apis Embalming Hall to the south-west of the main Memphis site is where the sacred Apis bulls were ritually mummified before burial in the Serapeum catacombs at Saqqara. The hall contains massive alabaster embalming tables still in place. The Apis cult was central to Memphite religion: each Apis bull was considered a living incarnation of the god Ptah, and at death was given an elaborate state funeral.