 It was still an imposing set of ruins in the 12th century but soon became little more than an expanse of low ruins and scattered stone.The legend recorded by Manetho was that Menes, the first pharaoh to unite the Two Lands, established his capital on the banks of the Nile by diverting the river with dikes.The Greek historian Herodotus, who tells a similar story, relates that during his visit to the city, the Persians, at that point the suzerains of the country, paid particular attention to the condition of these dams so that the city was saved from the annual flooding.