In the afternoon they
assumed the blue of the atmosphere and appeared indistinct, but in the
morning the polished sides that faced the east reflected the sun's rays
in dazzling sheets across the valley.
Out of a crevice between the heights to the south the broad blue Nile
rolled, sweeping past one hundred and twenty stadia or sixteen miles of
urban magnificence, and lost itself in the shimmering sky-line to the
north.
The city was walled on the north, west, and south, and its river-front
was protected by a mighty dike, built by Menes, the first king of the
first dynasty in the hour of chronological daybreak. Within were
orderly squares, cross-cut by avenues and relieved from monotony by
scattered mosaics of groves. Out of these shady demesnes rose the
great white temples of Ptah and Apis, and the palaces of the various
Memphian Pharaohs.
About these, the bazaars and residences, facade above facade, and tier
upon tier, as the land sloped up to its center, shone fair and white
under a cloudless sun.
Memphis was at the pinnacle of her greatness in the sixth year of the
reign of the divine Meneptah. She had fortified herself and resisted
the great invasion of the Rebu. Her generals had done battle with him
and brought him home, chained to their chariots.
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