I
Capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom (с 2575–с 2130 BC), located on the western bank of the Nile River , south of modern Cairo .
Founded с 2925 BC by Menes, it was by the 3rd dynasty a flourishing community. Despite the rivalry of Heracleopolis and Thebes , it remained important, particularly in the worship of Ptah . Beginning in the 8th century BC, it fell successively to Nubia, Assyria, Persia, and Macedonia under Alexander the Great . Its importance as a religious centre was undermined by the rise of Christianity and then of Islam. It was abandoned after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 640. Its ruins include the great temple of Ptah, royal palaces, and an extensive necropolis. Nearby are the pyramids of Giza .
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City (pop., 2000: 650,100), southwestern Tennessee, U.S. Situated above the Mississippi River where the borders of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee meet, it was founded in 1819 on the site of a Chickasaw Indian village and a U.S. fort.
It was incorporated as a city in 1849. A Confederate military centre at the start of the American Civil War , it was captured by Union forces in 1862. In the 1870s yellow fever killed 8,000 residents, and the city was forced into bankruptcy. Rechartered in 1893, it was the state's largest city by 1900. Sites of interest include Beale Street, made famous by {{link=Handy, William Christopher">W.C. Handy as the birthplace of the blues; and Graceland, the mansion of Elvis Presley . It is the seat of several educational institutions, including the University of Memphis.