The Saitica, which took its name from the city of Sais, and was probably of 8 digiti or 58 in., was of a common description.
At the time when invasions by the Assyrians drove out the Ethiopian Taracus again and again, the chief of the twenty princes to whom Esarhaddon and Assur-bani-pal successively entrusted the government was Niku, king of Sais and Memphis.
Although the main seat of government was at Memphis, Sais remained the royal residence throughout this flourishing dynasty.
Neith, the goddess of Sais, was identified with Athena, and Osiris was worshipped there in a great festival.
The brick enclosure wall of the temple is still plainly visible near the little village of Sa el hagar (Sa of stone) on the east bank of the Rosetta branch, but the royal tombs and other monuments of Sais, some of which were described by Herodotus, and its inscribed records, have all gone.