Memphis was founded, according to tradition, by the first king of a united Egypt around 3100 BC, and it was from here that the pharaohs of the pyramid age governed. For much of antiquity it was one of the largest cities in the world. Almost nothing of it remains above ground: the mud brick has dissolved into the fields, and the stone was carried off to build Cairo.
What survives is gathered in a small open-air museum in the village of Mit Rahina, among date palms about three kilometres from Saqqara. It takes half an hour to see, and two pieces make it worth the stop.
What to see and do at Memphis
Look down on the colossus of Ramesses II
A limestone statue that would stand about ten metres tall lies on its back in a purpose-built pavilion, viewed from a gallery above. The carving of the face, the muscles and the royal cartouches on the shoulder is superb. Another colossus of the king found here stood for decades in central Cairo and now greets visitors at the Grand Egyptian Museum.
See the alabaster sphinx
Carved from a single block weighing around eighty tonnes during the New Kingdom, it is the largest calcite statue known from Egypt and remarkably well preserved.
Wander the garden
Standing statues of Ramesses II, stone embalming tables used for the sacred Apis bulls, and fragments from the great temple of Ptah that once dominated the city.
How to get to Memphis
- By car: about 45–60 minutes from Giza; 10 minutes from Saqqara.
- On a tour: always visited together with Saqqara, and often Dahshur.
Insider tips
- A short stop — 30 to 45 minutes is plenty.
- Souvenir stalls line the car park; prices are negotiable and there is no obligation.
- Memphis and its necropolis, from Giza to Dahshur, form a single UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Best tours & tickets for Memphis
These top-rated experiences are the easiest way to see Memphis:
Day trip from €65 From Cairo: Pyramids of Giza, Sphinx, Saqqara & Memphis Tour
The complete story of the pyramid age in one day: the first pyramid at Saqqara, the old capital at Memphis and the great pyramids of Giza, with an Egyptologist to connect them. Easy-going and very highly rated.
- The Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
- The colossus of Ramesses II at Memphis
- Giza pyramids, the Sphinx and the Valley Temple
Day trip from €48 Giza: Sakkara, Memphis & Dahshur (Pyramid & Felucca Options)
A flexible tour of the pyramid fields: pick the sites you want, add Giza or leave it out, and optionally end with a felucca sail on the Nile. The best way to see the quiet, crowd-free pyramids of Dahshur.
- Bent and Red Pyramids at Dahshur
- Step Pyramid at Saqqara and the Memphis museum
- Choose one, three or all four sites
