before our evening flight to Luxor diving slowly through the villages taking in the sights as villages young and old care for their animals and drive their carts into market we are off to visit the ancient city of Memphis to admire the
40-foot statue of Ramses II and the Alabaster Sphinx

Memphis, founded around 3,100 BC, is the legendary city of Menes, the King who united Upper and Lower Egypt.
Memphis reached a peak of prestige under the 6th Dynasty as a centre of the cult of Ptah. It declined briefly after the 18th Dynasty with the rise of Thebes and was revived under the Persian satraps before falling into firm second place following the foundation of Alexandria. Under the Roman Empire, Alexandria remained the most important city. It remained the second city of Egypt until the establishment of Al Fustat (or Fustat) in641. Memphis was then largely abandoned and became a source of stone for the surrounding settlements. The royal decree rejecting the Cult of Akhenaten issued by Tutankhamun after the earlier king's death originated in Memphis, indicating the cities importance, even over Thebes, in the New Kingdom.