The Survey of Memphis, 1981

Changes in Urban and Sacred Landscapes of Memphis in the Third to the Fourth Centuries ad and the Eclipse of the Divine Apis Bulls

“…48 The temple of Hathor was apparently abandoned again, as evidenced by a deposit fill averaging about 35 cm above the previous occupation floor, but reoccupied when the foundation of a mud-brick wall at the south-western corner of the temple's court was laid down on the top layer of the occupational deposits. 49 Another example is the area of the former palace of Merenptah and a small temple of Ptah at Kôm el-Qalaʽa, located immediately to the east of the main Ptah precinct and possibly directly connected to its southern enclosure wall. It once enclosed a complex of important public buildings, as observed by D. J. Thompson, 50 or rather a residential quarter for state officials, important priests and notables, as suggested by numerous hardstone statues and stelae concentrated there (unfortunately usually found without clear context, but indeed dedicated by high ranking individuals active at Memphis during the first millennium bc, concluding with the reign of Ptolemy VI [180-145 bc] at the latest).…”