Articles

Hydrotechnical art of Ancient Egyptians and the foundation of Memphis: From Djoser to Snefru

Vostok/Oriens '2017, №5

DOI: 10.7868/S0869190817050041

 
The foundation of ancient Memphis is described by ancient scholars Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus (Herod. II.99; Diod. I.50 (3–5)). According to their accounts, the first king-founder shifted the riverbed of Nile to the East with the help of a dam and built the city on the cleared space. However, to what extent does this evidence correspond to the historical reality of the Early or Old Kingdom, and to the modern scholarship? Basing on the results of the investigations of the Egyptian Exploration Society, the author comes to the conclusion that the building project could not start from the side of the Western flood-lands earlier than the period of Old Kingdom. Taking into account the high level of Nile in the beginning of the third millennium BCE, the author argues that the building project could not start in the area of historical Memphis, near the complex of Djoser. The construction could start only near modern Dahshur, where the two monumental pyramids of Snefru were erected. On the basis of the annals of Snefru, the author comes to the conclusion that that king should be regarded not only as the builder of the famous dam in the area of Medum, but also of the legendary Memphis in the area of Dahshur. Memphis.

Keywords: the foundation of Memphis, Egyptian Exploration Society, “Dry Moat”, the global transgression of the Ocean, Snefruʼs dam

Pages: С. 37–51