130 Route 9. MEMPHIS.
opens into another hall, with three recesses containing statues; on
the walls are reliefs of goldsmiths and of workmen carving statues
of the deceased in wood and stone. A third hall contains two in¬
teresting columns (Nymphsea lotus, with closed capitals) of which,
however, only the lower parts are in situ, the capitals being at Cairo.
Continuing our route to Sakkara, we leave to the left a pond and
the village of Abusir, situated beyond a group of palms to the S.E., and
soon reach the sandy eminences of the Necropolis of Memphis and Mari-
ette's House (p. 135), 3/t hr. from the first pyramid of Abusir.
9. The Site of Ancient Memphis and the Necropolis
of Sakkara.
• •
A visit to Memphis and Sakkara may easily be accomplished in one
day. A calm and windless day should be selected (p. 112). Provisions
should not be forgotten; an acetylene lamp is also desirable; candles may
be procured at Bedrashen in the Greek 'hakkal', or shop, mentioned at
p. 131. — Tickets admitting to the monuments of Sakkara may be obtained
for 5 pias. each at the railway-station of Bedrashen. Travellers, however,
who possess a general Admission Ticket from the Service des Antiquitis de
l'Egypte (p. 78) do not require these special tickets. Excursions to Sakkara
and Memphis are organized by Messrs. Cook, Messrs. Gaze and other tourist
agents. But the haste with which these excursions are conducted and
the crowd of tourists taking part in them are out of keeping with the
dignified and solemn associations of the spot.
The following arrangement of the journey will be found convenient.
Take the train at 8 a.m. to (3/4-l hr.) Bedrashen, where donkeys and
drivers (10 pias. there and back) are in waiting. Ride via the site of
Memphis, where the "Colossi of Ramses (p. 132) are inspected, to the Necro¬
polis of Sakkara, and thence, passing the *Step Pyramid (p. 134), to (2 hrs.
in all) Mariette's House (p. 135). For luncheon and a visit to the "Apis
Tombs (p. 135) and the ""Tombs of Ptahhotep and Ti (pp. 137, 139) 4 hrs. should
be allowed; and possibly time may be found for the inspection of the
Onnos Pyramid (p. 134) or the 'Tomb of Mereruka (p. 148). For returning
to the station of Bedrashen l>/2 hr. more should be reckoned. The train
from Upper Egypt generally reaches Bedrashen about 5.30 p.m., but the
railway time-table should be consulted. — Those who are not too fatigued
may return by the route described above via Abusir to the Mena House
Hotel (2'/2 hrs.; bargain beforehand with the donkey-driver), and thence
take the electric tramway to Cairo.
Travellers who wish to devote i'/2-2 days to Sakkara may pass the
night at Mariette's House (p. 135), for which the previous permission of
the museum authorities at Gizeh should be obtained. A blanket is a
sufficient covering in spring.
The trains start from the Principal Station (p. 24). The railway
crosses the Nile, passes Embabeh (p. 76), and makes a wide curve
to (6y4 M., in 25 min.) Bulak ed-Dakrur. Farther on, near (8 M.)
Gizeh (p. 77), the Pyramid of Kheops appears on the right. On the
left, beyond the Nile, we see Old Cairo, above which rises the long
ridge of the Mokattam, and to the S. the Gebel Turra (p. 155). On
the banks of the Nile are the military establishments of Turra. To
the right rise the hills of the Libyan desert with the Pyramids of
Abusir (p. 129). Farther on is the sugar-factory of Hawamdtyeh.
We next observe the step-pyramid, which, however, soon disappears.
On the right and left of the line are tracts of arable land. To the
left at the foot of the Gebel Turra lie the baths of Helwan (p. 154).
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