Memphis, The home town of Elvis Presley..

...and the Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom 3.100 B.C


Memphis in Tennessee

The area around Memphis, Tennessee, was first settled by the Mississippian Culture and then by the Chickasaw Indian tribe. European exploration came years later, with Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto and French explorers led by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle.

In the early 20th century, Memphis grew into the world's largest spot cotton market and the world's largest hardwood lumber market. During the 1960s the city was at the center of civil rights issues. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968 at the Lorraine Motel.

Many notable blues musicians grew up in and around the Memphis and northern Mississippi area.These included such musical greats as Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and Isaac Hayes.

Graceland  is a mansion on a 13.8-acre (5.6 ha) estate in Memphis, Tennessee that was home to Elvis Presley. From 1956 until 1957, Elvis and his family lived at 1034 Audubon Drive in Memphis. It wasn't long, however, before it became apparent that the Presleys needed more privacy and security than the Audubon Drive home could provide. So in 1957, Elvis bought Graceland for $102,000 from Ruth Brown Moore. Graceland was Elvis' final home in Memphis and it is where he died in 1977. 

The modern city of Memphis was founded in 1819, the city was named after the ancient capital of Egypt on the Nile River.

Memphis in Egypt  

                    
One of the mythical lost cities with advanced technology, among many other.                    
Memphis, Greek: Μέμφις) was the ancient capital of Aneb-Hetch, the first nome of Lower Egypt. Its ruins are located near the town of Mit Rahina, 20 km (12 mi) south of Cairo.

According to legend related by Manetho, the city was founded by the pharaoh Menes. Capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom, it remained an important city throughout ancient Mediterranean history. It occupied a strategic position at the mouth of the Nile delta, and was home to feverish activity. 

Its principal port, Peru-nefer, harboured 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 (meaning "Enclosure of the ka of Ptah"), was one of the most prominent structures in the city. 

The name of this temple, rendered in Greek as Aί γυ πτoς (Ai-gy-ptos) 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. Its eventual downfall is believed to be due to the loss of its economic significance in late antiquity, following the rise of coastal Alexandria. Its religious significance also diminished after the abandonment of the ancient religion following the Edict of Thessalonica.

The ruins of the former capital today offer fragmented evidence of its past. They have been preserved, along with the pyramid complex at Giza, as a World Heritage Site since 1979. The site is open to the public as an open-air museum.

The Greek historian Herodotus, relates that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point the suzerains of the country, paid particular attention to the condition of dams so that the city was saved from the annual flooding. Herodotus dates the founding of the city at around 3100 BC, over 2500 years prior to his visit.

Hellenistic period

In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great was crowned pharaoh in the Temple of Ptah, ushering in the Hellenistic period.  The city retained a significant status, especially religious, throughout the period following the takeover by one of his generals, Ptolemy.  On the death of Alexander in Babylon (323 BCE), Ptolemy took great pains in acquiring his body and bringing it to Memphis. 

Alexander’s Funeral Carriage

Claiming that the king himself had officially expressed a desire to be buried in Egypt, he then carried the body of Alexander to the heart of the temple of Ptah, and had him embalmed by the priests. 

By custom, kings in Macedon asserted their right to the throne by burying their predecessor. 

Ptolemy II later transferred the sarcophagus to Alexandria, where a royal tomb was constructed for its burial. The exact location of the tomb has been lost since then. According to Aelian, the seer Aristander foretold that the land where Alexander was laid to rest "would be happy and unvanquishable forever".

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