Memphis — an ancient Egyptian necropolis in the heart of the Bible Belt

Fictional city-map combining elements of Memphis, Tennessee, (most importantly the base layout with the road network, in black) and elements derived from the necropolis of ancient Memphis, Egypt. Both the rivers the two homonymous sites lie on, the Mississippi and the Nile, are visible. The colour red identifies elements and zones of the urban geography of the American city, whereas the colour yellow identifies archaeological sites of the ancient Egyptian capital, mostly grouped into three main archaeological areas.

Memphis is a major urban area in the South of the United States and one of the most prominent cities built along the Mississippi river. The blues, country, rock and roll and hip-hop music scene, as well the Memphis-style barbecue somehow made the American city more famous than the ancient Egyptian capital that inspired Overton, Winchester and Jackson in 1819. Although the American founders were only aiming to one-up the rival-founders of the newly-formed city of Cairo, in Illinois, which they most likely succeeded in.

In the metropolitan area of Cairo, Egypt, the name “Memphis” today only designates an agglomeration of archaeological sites, mostly necropolises, which used to be the burial places of the ancient Egyptian capital.

In the 1980s and 90s, the time of post-modern Egyptian revival in architecture, the rulers of Memphis (Tennessee) decided to valorise the potential connection they had with Egyptian aesthetics with the purpose of city-branding. One of the products of this brand strategy was the Memphis Zoo which was built imitating the architecture of the Temple of Ptah, one of the three most prominent places of worship in ancient Egypt, today an humble pile of ruins in the modern village of Mit Rahina.

In light of this connection, in the map above the site of the Memphis Zoo main building (in Tennessee) and the site of the ramains of the Temple of Ptah (in Egypt) coincide as one place.

Above: Memphis Zoo (Tennessee), main building. Below: Mit Rahina (Egypt), remains of the temple of Ptah.

Superposing the maps of Memphis (Tennessee) and Memphis (Egypt) implies creating correspondences with elements of two distinctive geographies which results in extremely plausible landscapes.

The mastaba of Ptahshepses (archaeological area of Abusir) bordering Whitney avenue, the road that leads from the centre of Memphis TN to the General DeWitt Spain airport.

Woman riding a quad bike in the marshy fields close the Mississippi riverside. In the background: chemical industries and fifth dinasty archaeological remains of the Abusir area. Background right: the pyramid of Neferirkare.

The entrance of the Serapeum of Saqqara, burial place of sacred bulls, situated between scrap metal dealers and wood storehouses in an industrial/logistic area in North Memphis TN.

The western gate of the funerary complex of Djoser (Saqqara) marks the property boundary between the back-gardens of the houses situated in Manassas street and those situated in Woodlawn street (North Memphis TN).

The Greater Faith Baptist Church of Henderson avenue asserting dominance at the centre of one of the courtyards in the necropolis of Saqqara.

North Memphis TN: usual encounters in the parking lot of the Manassas High School. The pyramid of Djoser dominates the scene.

Small dwellings of Leath street peek out among the remains of the pyramid of Pepi I.

the Red Pyramid of Sneferu dominates the Pearly Gate Baptist Church in South Memphis TN.

Driver POV while approaching the Bent Pyramid of Sneferu in the archaeological area of Dahshur. In the rearview mirror: the suburb of South Memphis and the Longview Holiness Community Church.

The remains of the pyramid of Amenemhat III stand out in the middle of the Pine Hill golf course, South Memphis TN.

The amount of Old and Middle Kingdom funerary monuments that becomes part of the landscape of the Mississippi valley when we superpose the map of the necropolis of Memphis on the map of Memphis Tennessee should not make us forget about the one pyramid that is authentically part of the landscape of the American city.

The greatest pyramid of Tennessee was built in 1991 and it used to be a major sports and entertainment arena, as well as the home for some “international holy convocations” of the Church of God in Christ. Today it hosts the world’s largest Bass Pro Shop (articles for hunting and fishing) as well as a bowling alley, shops and restaurants.

The Memphis TN pyramid, surrounded by the desert east of Saqqara.

Aside from the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, another thing Memphis Tennessee is famous for is its past music scene and, of course, Elvis Presley. Graceland, the singer’s iconic mansion, is situated in the neighbourhood of Whitehaven, beyond the ring road of Memphis and beyond the boundaries of the map above. The picture below identifies the place Graceland would hypothetically correspond to, on the map of the area surrounding the necropolis of Memphis, Egypt.

The iconic house of Elvis Presley, situated on the desert line, at the western edge of the small town of Zawiyat Dahshur.

More recently, the collaboration with the Memphis born rapper Juicy J allegedly motivated Katy Perry to opt for an egyptian theme for the videoclip of her single Dark Horse, to pay hommage to his Memphis roots. That was the last prominent connection between the American city and the Egyptian necropolis, until this map was created.

Katy Perry in the videoclip of Dark Horse, 2014.