Ancient Memphis, Mit Rahina, Cairo

Is Memphis worth visiting?

Yes, if you're already heading to Saqqara. The museum sits on the way, the ticket is one of the cheapest around Cairo, and the colossus of Ramesses II is a royal portrait you can study up close, inches from the stone. Allow 45–60 minutes.

No, if you have a single day in Cairo. Then the Giza Pyramids and the Grand Egyptian Museum come first. And don't expect Luxor-style temples: no walls or columns survive here, only sculpture.

Most travellers see Memphis as the first or last stop of a Saqqara–Memphis–Dahshur day, usually with a hired car and driver. That's also the format we'd recommend.

Memphis tickets, hours and payment

Foreign adults pay EGP 200, students under 24 with a valid ID EGP 100, and children under 6 go free. Phone photography is free. The museum is open every day from 8:00, with last entry at 16:00; during Ramadan it opens at 9:00 with last entry at 15:00. The Ministry asks visitors to arrive at least an hour before closing.

Buy tickets on the official Egymonuments website, in the Experience Egypt app, or at the ticket office and kiosks on site. Tickets are for a fixed date and can't be refunded or replaced. Visa and Mastercard are accepted in every channel, including the desk, so you don't need cash for entry. Keep small Egyptian pounds for a tuk-tuk, toilets and tips.

Older guidebooks and blogs quote EGP 35, 80 or 180 — those prices are out of date.

What to see at the Memphis open-air museum

• The colossus of Ramesses II in its own pavilion — a limestone statue about 10 m long, lying on its back with its feet and base broken off. Giovanni Caviglia found it in 1820 near the south gate of the Temple of Ptah. The carving of the face and arms is remarkably fine — the best reason to stop here.
• The alabaster sphinx in the garden — a large statue cut from a single block of Egyptian alabaster. With no inscription, no one knows whose face it is; Hatshepsut and Amenhotep II are the usual candidates. It turned up during Flinders Petrie's excavations of 1907–1912.
• The standing statue of Ramesses II among the palms — the one in this page's photo.
• Statues, stelae and temple fragments along the garden paths — smaller sphinxes, column pieces and sarcophagi. Labels are scarce, so a guide helps.
• The Apis embalming tables — huge alabaster slabs within the Ptah temple area where the sacred bulls were prepared for burial in the Serapeum at Saqqara. Ask at the desk whether they're open on the day.

What was Memphis? The capital of the pyramid age

Memphis was Egypt's capital through the first dynasties and the Old Kingdom, when the pyramids were built. Legend, as recorded by the priest Manetho, says King Menes founded it when he united Upper and Lower Egypt; it sat right on the boundary of the two lands. Its earliest name was Inebu-hedj, the White Walls; the later Men-nefer, "enduring and beautiful", became the Greek Memphis.

The city belonged to Ptah, god of craftsmen. His temple, Hut-ka-Ptah, is widely thought to have given Egypt its name via the Greek Aigyptos. Ramesses II lined that temple with colossi, and in 332 BC Alexander the Great was crowned there. After the Arab conquest in the 7th century the city became a quarry, its temples dismantled to build Fustat and later Cairo.

The pyramids are not in Memphis itself but on the desert ridge to the west — its cemeteries at Saqqara, Dahshur, Abusir and Giza. UNESCO listed them together in 1979 as Memphis and its Necropolis.

How long to spend and when to go

The garden and the colossus pavilion take 45–60 minutes; with a guide who reads the fragments for you, closer to an hour and a half. Since Memphis, Saqqara and Dahshur all stop admitting visitors at 16:00, start early.

Come at the 8:00 opening if you can: it is cooler, and Saqqara, next on most plans, also stops admitting visitors at 16:00. November to March is the most comfortable season; in summer it is hot even early, so bring water and a hat.

Memphis vs Saqqara vs Giza

Memphis was the city; Saqqara and Giza were its cemeteries. Memphis and Saqqara are 10–15 minutes apart, so almost everyone sees them on the same day.

Ancient Egypt around Cairo: compare and choose

Historic sites in Cairo with a YesGo score. Tap a column header to sort.

How to do it right

• Don't make a separate trip to Memphis — slot it in on the way to or from Saqqara.
• Walk all the way round the Ramesses II colossus — the face and hands reward a close look.
• Be there by 8:00 so both Memphis and Saqqara fit comfortably before last entry.
• Cards work for the ticket, but you'll want small Egyptian pounds for the tuk-tuk and toilets.
• If you come by Uber, agree a waiting time — booking a ride out of Mit Rahina is hard.
• Bring water; the café by the entrance charges a premium.

Questions