an ancient city of Lower Egypt, capital of a district in the delta, on the right bank of the Canopic or Rosetta arm of the Nile, in N. Lat. 31.4. It was built on artificial mounds, so as to be out of the reach of the inundations of the Nile, and covered an extensive area, as it was a place of great importance in ancient times. It was especially famous as a sacred city, devoted to the worship of Neith or Athene, and of Isis. The temple of the former deity appears to have stood in a large inclosure surrounded by massive walls of brick. It had a portico erected by Amasis, which was one of the most splendid in Egypt. To the same monarch this temple owed several colossal statues and sphinxes, as well as a large shrine made out of a single block of granite. Sais also contained the tombs of all the Saite kings of Egypt; that is, the single monarch of the 24th, the six of the 26th, and the single one of the 28th dynasty. The reigns of these monarchs form one of the most flourishing periods of Egyptian history, during which Sais reached the acme of its prosperity. The place was equally celebrated as a seat of learning and commerce, and had many institutions that resembled those of Athens. The remains of Sais consist of mounds of brick mingled with fragments of marble and granite. Except that of the temple of Neith, no site of any of the edifices in the town has been discovered. There are some traces of the lake where the annual mysteries of Isis were celebrated. (See Egypt.)