Memphis

Timeline

1. c. -3100–-2600Memphis · Lower EgyptAfter Narmer unified Upper and Lower Egypt, Memphis became the capital of the kingdom, called the White Walls for its white ramparts; within the city were the temple of Ptah and the palace quarter, controlling the key junction of Nile Delta and upstream traffic, and providing an administrative and ritual base for the kings of the Old Kingdom pyramid age.
2. c. -2600–-1800Memphis · Lower EgyptAlthough in some periods the pharaohs resided in Thebes or other cities, Memphis remained the administrative core of Lower Egypt and the seat of coronation traditions; the nearby pyramid complexes of Giza and Saqqara were closely tied to the capital's functions, and the Memphis priesthood carried great weight in the religious landscape of the whole country.
3. c. -700–-332Memphis · Lower EgyptDuring Assyrian and Persian rule Memphis remained an important seat of both native Egyptian regimes and foreign governors; artifacts such as the Nabonidus Stele show that even as the capital function shifted, Memphis's status as a sacred site of Ptah and a symbol of traditional kingship was never interrupted.
4. c. -332–1Memphis · Lower EgyptAfter Alexander the Great's conquest, the newly founded Alexandria quickly replaced Memphis as the economic and political center; in the Ptolemaic and Roman periods Memphis retained its temples and local administrative functions, but the center of national power shifted eastward, the city gradually shrank, and the Nile's course changes and siltation accelerated its decline.