Urban Experiences: Memphis

This chapter focuses on Memphis and its associated necropoleis. Memphis served as the seat of the satrap, based in the Palace of Apries, which continued its military and administrative functions. The cult of the Apis bull was maintained, and perhaps even expanded. Likewise, the practice of building shaft tombs among the Old Kingdom royal pyramids at Saqqara, Abusir and Giza also continued; some of these tombs are among the most impressive of the Late Period. Thus Memphis remained an important place, both in the physical landscape of Egypt, and also in the cultural memory of the Egyptians themselves. At the same time it was also a great cosmopolis, and Achaemenid rule only added to its diversity. The sealings and bilingual tags recovered from the Palace of Apries attest to a social environment in which multiple traditions of material culture were valued and utilized side by side. Even the names recorded in Demotic and Aramic papyri found at Saqqara feature combinations of Egyptian and foreign names within single families, pointing to a social climate of interaction and diversity rather than strict divisions between Persians and Egyptians.