Memphis, Egypt

A deleted city with a great history. This is Memphis - the capital of Egypt for 4000 years. Today, it is marked on the map only as the place where the scarce finds of his only exhibit remain - the spectacular statue of Ramses II. The town itself today lies buried under the village of Mit Rahina.
Memphis is important even before it was chosen as the capital of Egypt. It was originally called Inebu-hedge, which means White Walls. The name Memphis first appears in the chronicles only in the XXIII century BC. There, according to Herodotus, it is said that the city was built by King Min, who ordered a dam to be built to change the course of the river flowing there, and the city was built on the site of the old bend of the river. Millennia followed, during which Memphis was a cultural, administrative, and commercial center that attracted merchants and pilgrims from all over Africa and Asia. Only after the appearance of the city of Alexandria came the decline of Memphis.
In 641, the ruins of ancient Memphis were used by the armies of Arb al-As for quarries and sources of materials for the construction of the capital Cairo. 
So, embarking on the path of destruction, Memphis from the capital turns into a swamp, because the Nile mercilessly floods its lands. Farmers and pastoralists founded their villages in its place. This is the biggest obstacle to the archeological excavations and that is why today there is one exhibit left from it, which does not allow its name to be forgotten. The statue of Ramses II is placed in a specially built pavilion.