Saqqara and Memphis are two places inextricably linked to each other. And not only because of their proximity, but also because of their history. Therefore, it is common to organize a excursion to Saqqara and Memphis on the same day, usually from Cairo, although it is also possible to do it from other tourist destinations in Egypt. Their relationship is simple: Memphis was the capital of the country in the times of the Old Kingdom and Saqqara, one of the necropolises chosen by its pharaohs for eternal rest. It was similar to what happened, centuries later, with Thebes and the Valley of the Kings, if we admit that parallel.
In addition, on this page we add two other places that are also related to Saqqara and Memphis: Abusir and Dahshur. All of them, as well as Giza (to which we dedicate another entire page), form the same site declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, under the name ‘Memphis and its necropolis. Areas of the pyramids from Giza to Dahshur’.
So if you are planning a excursion to Saqqara, Memphis, Abusir or Dahshur, take good note of the information we provide here. And remember that we can organize a tailor-made trip for you, with the duration you want, the most comfortable transport service and the best professionals to accompany you.
Saqqara and Memphis are very close to Cairo… although they already existed several thousand years before the current Egyptian capital was founded. They are about 20 km up the Nile, to the south. You may not find them on a normal map, as the population that is here now has a different name: Mit Rahina, a small town that sits, literally, on ancient Memphis. This is because, after the abandonment of the city at the twilight of the ancient Egyptian civilization, the Nile was depositing its layers of silt in each flood and, on them, the current Mit-Rahina was built some time later. Therefore, one thing is certain: under the ground still remain incalculable and unknown vestiges of that great capital, which perhaps we will discover little by little in the future thanks to new excavations.
A couple of kilometers closer is Abusir, about 18 km from Cairo, while the furthest necropolis is Dahshur, next to the town of the same name, a little more than 30 km away. All these places are on the left bank of the Nile and belong to the Giza Governorate. On the other side of the river, however, is the city of Helwan, larger, with an important university and even several stops on the Cairo Metro network.
With regard to the climate, nothing differs from what you will find in Cairo and Giza, so you can consult their respective pages and the one dedicated to the Climate of Egypt for more details: very high maximum temperatures in the summer, possibility of the appearance of the chamsin (or jamsin), need to protect the skin, head and eyes, etc.
In this binomial Saqqara-Memphis, the second one emerged first. Memphis was the first great capital of Ancient Egypt and, according to legend, was founded around 3050 BC by Menes, the first pharaoh of that civilization, which is often associated with the figure of Narmer (Dynasty I, Archaic Period). What is certain is that this city was the capital of the unified kingdom, at least from Dynasty II to VI. It thus replaced Tinis, located in Upper Egypt, as Memphis was located in a strategically more interesting place: between Upper and Lower Egypt, acting as a hinge between both areas.
There is not much information about the size, shape and other details of Memphis. The Egyptians themselves called it in different ways: Ineb-hedy (‘the one of the White Wall’), Anj-tauy (‘Balance of the Two Lands) and Men Nefer (‘Stable in Beauty’), precedent of the later name of Memphis that, as it happens with so many other cities, was the one given to it by the Greeks.
In addition to being the administrative capital and an important city at the economic level, a good part of its importance was of a religious nature. Here was the Great Temple of Ptah, creator god according to Memphite theology, and is considered one of the three great temples of Egyptian religion, along with that of Ra in Heliopolis and that of Amun in Thebes.
During the Old Kingdom, the pharaohs who ruled the country from Memphis felt the need to be buried in places conducive to their eternal rest, with every luxury. And that is when they set their sights on Saqqara, next to Memphis, several kilometers to the west, already in desert terrain. This is how, from Dynasty II onwards, the Egyptian kings began to be buried in this necropolis, replacing that of Dynasty I in Umm el-Qaab, in Abydos, when the capital was Tinis. And so it remained until the end of the Old Kingdom with Pepy II (dynasty VI), although with important periods of parenthesis in which other pharaohs chose the necropolis of Abusir, Dahshur and Giza.
The importance and splendor of Memphis were not always constant and, after a long decline, it experienced a resurgence with pharaohs of Dynasty XIX (c. 1295-c. 1185 BC, New Kingdom), especially Ramses II, as is easy to understand given his colossal statue in the Mit Rahina Museum. And its fame crossed borders, as it is mentioned on several occasions in the Bible.
But during the Third Intermediate Period and the Late Period (1069-332 BC) it experienced a constant decline, suffering looting by Assyrian invaders. The final blow came when the Ptolemaic dynasty chose the newly founded Alexandria as the capital and city of reference of the country. Its definitive end came in 641 AD, when the Arab armies quickly conquered Egypt and began to use its ruins for the construction of other buildings in the country.
On an excursion to Saqqara and Memphis, the archeology and history of Ancient Egypt are the main protagonists, so you will enjoy it if you feel great interest in the culture of that civilization. And if that is not the case, you will have no problem feeling overwhelmed by the constructions and ruins that will be presented before your eyes. It is easy to understand that they have an incalculable value!
A good part of the time of this excursion to Saqqara and Memphis you will dedicate to visiting this famous necropolis, which can often also be found as ‘Sakkara’. It is an open-air enclosure with different pyramids, mastabas and tombs, as well as other sacred and complementary spaces. The most prominent is the Pyramid of Zoser or Djeser (Dynasty III), also known as Step Pyramid. It is the first of its kind and is considered a transition between the mastaba and the perfect pyramids of Giza.
The merit goes to Imhotep, one of the first architects of whom there is evidence, as he achieved it thanks to two milestones. One: conceiving the building as if it were superimposed mastabas of descending size up to the top. And two: using stone instead of adobe, which has undoubtedly allowed its conservation over time to be so long-lived, as it dates approximately from 2650 BC. In addition, the complex was equipped with secondary constructions around it, such as an interior courtyard, a tomb for the ka of the king in the form of a statue, a courtyard for the celebration of the Heb-Sed (ritual of renewal of royal power) and a 10-meter wall that surrounded the entire complex.
The pharaoh’s chamber is located in the center of the Step Pyramid, about 28 meters underground, where Zoser’s mummy was not found. The interior decoration is simple and austere in general, although it is possible to admire several surprises. For example, the serdab: a closed chamber located in an angle of the pyramid that has small circular holes to contemplate the seated statue of the pharaoh (the current one is a copy of the original, preserved in Cairo).
In addition to the Step Pyramid there are other funerary complexes, dedicated to pharaohs to very distinguished characters, although smaller in size and in an unequal state of conservation. Highlights include the pyramid of Unas (Dynasty V), with interior walls covered with hieroglyphs, and the Pyramid of Teti (Dynasty VI), with similar inscriptions in the form of songs or litanies. This was also the burial place of Userkaf and Dyedkara-Isesi, both of Dynasty V. The tomb of Mereruka (Teti’s son-in-law) is composed of more than thirty chambers and interesting polychrome reliefs. The funerary complex of Sejemjet (Dynasty V) was never finished and is in ruins, but aroused great interest because in the mid-twentieth century its alabaster sarcophagus was discovered, although in the end it was found to be empty.
But one of the most unique and surprising spaces on this excursion to Saqqara, due to its unique character throughout Ancient Egypt, is the Serapeum (not to be confused with the one in Alexandria): a burial place in which, for reasons that are still unknown, mummified oxen were buried, probably as an invocation of the sacred Apis ox, god of fertility. It consisted of more than twenty chambers with their respective rock chests to contain the remains of the sacred oxen, as well as votive stelae, sculptures and other elements.
Undoubtedly, the necropolis of Saqqara had a great funerary value for animals of a sacred nature, beyond the aforementioned Serapeum. And it was recently discovered that it contained more than 8 million mummified animals. Yes: 8 million! Of different sizes and species, the most numerous were perhaps dogs (linked to the cult of the god Anubis), cats or mongooses, among others.
As we said above, although Memphis was a city of enormous relevance in Ancient Egypt, what remains standing in Mit Rahina is not too numerous, due to the damage and burials of the Nile, as well as the dismantling of its constructions in Arab times. This can be seen, for example, in the Temple of Ptah, reduced today to an open field with stone blocks from the hypostyle hall and other spaces, as the most valuable pieces found here were taken to the nearby Mit Rahina Museum, to others in Egypt and even taken out of the country. Therefore, the most important thing to see here is in the Mit Rahina Museum, as we detail in the following section.
In addition to the great archaeological park that Saqqara represents, there are other museums builtin situ recently to better highlight some of the outstanding aspects of the necropolis and ancient Memphis. Without moving from Saqqara, you will find the Imhotep Museum , a small carefully designed enclosure to publicize the importance of the architect of the Step Pyramid, so great that centuries later he came to be divinized.
But also it can be considered an archaeological museum with objects from the necropolis or even an interpretation center of the same, as it also has models and other explanatory elements. Sculptures, sarcophagi, canopic jars or stone blocks with hieroglyphs are some of the many pieces that populate the showcases of this museum.
On the other hand, the Mit Rahina Museum is essentially an open-air museum, as a garden in which to admire pieces from ancient Memphis and its Great Temple of Ptah. Highlights include the Alabaster Sphinx, one of the largest and heaviest in this material, and stone blocks with hieroglyphic decoration, as well as remains of statues.
As we said, the excursion to Saqqara and Memphis can be extended or completed on another day visiting other necropolises declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in the same unitary site: Abusir and Dahshur, recently incorporated into the circuit of visitable places of Ancient Egypt. And thanks to the fact that their fame is less than that of Saqqara and Memphis, you can enjoy the visit almost in solitude, which causes greater impression.
The advantage of Abusir is that it is the closest necropolis to Cairo, not counting the Giza Pyramids complex, of course. Its radiant present also works in its favor, as thanks to the continuous work carried out here, in recent years it has been common to find news about this place in the media, almost always linked to discoveries of intact tombs and findings of enormous interest to archaeologists and tourists in general.
The pharaohs who opted for Abusir were mainly those of the Fifth Dynasty. Here, you can see a continuation of the trend set by Menkaure: the pyramids become smaller, and the temples and subsidiary constructions proportionally gain more size. The Pyramid of Sahura, as well as the funerary temple located next to it. The pyramids of Neferefra, Nyuserra, and Neferirkara also remain standing. Neferefra, Nyuserra, and Neferirkara, the latter being stepped and the largest in the complex.
Geographically, the Dahshur necropolis is the furthest from Cairo. But chronologically, it is located after Saqqara and before Abusir and Giza. . It was promoted by the pharaoh Seneferu of the Fourth Dynasty, father of the famous Khufu, promoter of the Great Pyramid of Giza, but it was also widely used in the Middle Kingdom, mainly from Amenemhat II (Twelfth Dynasty).
Incorporated into tourist circuits relatively recently, it is a very interesting place to learn about the evolution of the pyramids, as there are some of great importance here. Therefore, it is increasingly common to visit it after the excursion to Saqqara and Memphis.
The first is the Bent Pyramid, commissioned by Seneferu. It is considered an evolution of the stepped pyramids of Saqqara, although its profile is not perfect: it began with an inclination of about 55 degrees but towards the middle, it changes to 44 degrees, giving it that characteristic curved silhouette. Its smooth exterior coating is also striking, which, fortunately for visitors, has been largely preserved and allows us to imagine the perfection and precision of this type of finish, which was also used in the Pyramids of Giza.
However, for reasons that are unknown, Seneferu decided to abandon the construction of this pyramid and start another: the North Pyramid or Red Pyramid. This one can be considered ‘perfect’ due to the symmetry of its profile, thanks to its slope of about 43 degrees on all sides, with a total height of about 104 meters, slightly higher than its neighbor the Bent Pyramid. Its current entrance is located about 30 meters up and gives access to the interior, with three chambers but no decoration.
In addition to these two pyramids, it is worth mentioning other funerary structures, also interesting:
As we have explained, the towns closest to Saqqara, Memphis, Abusir, and Dahshur are small and not far from Cairo. Therefore, they are perfect places to be approached in the form of excursion. Saqqara and Memphis are usually the most common, but Abusir and Dahshur are increasingly attracting more groups and travelers.
A day is usually enough to see one or two of these places of interest, departing from Cairo and returning to it after the visit. However, nothing prevents you from spending more time in each one, or concentrating the four visits in the same day.
What all these options have in common is transport: while the option of large groups by bus is the order of the day, at Egipto Exclusivo we can organize a excursion to Saqqara and Memphis more personalized and tailored, with your own driver in a private vehicle. With the route you choose and with the time you need to discover these archaeological parks at your own pace.
In fact, we can manage accommodation in the vicinity of these places of interest, if you prefer not to return to Cairo. Or we can integrate the visit into a broader circuit , which can take you on the way to or from a Nile cruise in Upper Egypt, a tour of the country’s oases or a vacation in the sun and beach destinations in the Red Sea, in this case with the help of domestic flights.
Whatever your preferred option, Egipto Exclusivo is responsible for designing a customized solution. Contact us now and enjoy the best excursion to Saqqara, Memphis, Abusir and Dahshur!
