ion of the temples and traditions following the monotheistic era of Atenism, which was regarded as heresy. The tombs of important officials from his reign, such as Horemheb and Maya, are situated in Saqqara, although Horemheb was eventually buried in the Valley of the Kings after reigning as pharaoh himself.
There is evidence that, under Rameses II, the city developed new importance in the political sphere through its proximity to the new capital Pi-Rameses. The pharaoh devoted many monuments in Memphis and adorned them with colossal symbols of glory. Merneptah, his successor, constructed a palace and developed the southeast wall of the temple of Ptah. For the early part of the 19th dynasty, Memphis received the privileges of royal attention, and it is this dynasty that is most evident among the ruins of the city today.
With the 21st and 22nd dynasties, we see a continuation of the religious development initiated by Rameses. Memphis does not seem to suffer a decline during the Third Intermediate Period, which saw great changes in the geopolitics of the country. Instead it is likely that the pharaohs worked to develop the Memphite cult in their new capital of Tanis, to the northeast. In light of some remains found at the site, it is known that a temple of Ptah was based there. Siamun is cited as having built a temple dedicated to Amun, the remains of which were found by Flinders Petrie in the early 20th century, in the south of the temple of Ptah complex.
According to inscriptions describing his architectural work, Sheshonk I, founder of the 22nd dynasty, constructed a forecourt and pylon of the temple of Ptah, a monument which he called the "Castle of Millions of Years of Sheshonk, Beloved of Amun". The funerary cult surrounding this monument, well known in the New Kingdom, was still functioning several generations after its establishment at the temple, leading some scholars to suggest that it may have contained the royal burial chamber of the
