Memphis is one of the former capitals of Egypt. It was founded approximately in 3,000 BC and situated on the border of the Nile, thus controlling the waterways between Upper and Lower Egypt. The city was built of mud bricks, which could not resist the pressure of time and erosion, and desert winds, but Sakkarah, the necropolis of Memphis, still stands. Here the kings and nobles were buried. Djoser (Zoser) was reigning the country when the step pyramid underneath was built by his favorite architect Imhotep. The step pyramid is older than the pyramids of Gizeh, and is also a "step" on the architectural road. The rulers of Egypt used to build mastabas for their graves, rectangular stone boxes. The next design was one of mastabas on top of each other, each one smaller than the one underneath. Finally this culminated in the pyramid form as we know it from Gizeh. The pyramids were built in the 3rd Dynasty around 2680 BC, in the Old Kingdom.

Before its polished white limestone casing stones had vanished, the pyramid was about 62 meters high. The Pyramid of Unas (5th Dynasty), which is standing close to Djozer's pyramid, does not look like anything else but a large pile of rubble. It was built around 2,350 BC.

In the pictures underneath, you see Ramses as he is exhibited in a small building in Memphis. His legs are invisible, but that does not matter, as he does not have them anyhow. When the British tried to take the statue with them, they were either too careless or the thing was too heavy, and the legs broke. That probably made them leave Ramses behind in Memphis, where tourists still admire him.
Ramses may have missed his legs in Memphis, but there were also parts of his body, which worked well and which he apparently enjoyed using. That is to say, if there was time left between fighting big battles and ruling the country. In the history books it is written that he had eight "official" wives. The fact that over one hundred children have been attributed to him, points out that he not only most probably had a number of "unofficial" wives, but also was an effective and efficient man.