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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

MEMPHIS

City located about 15 miles (24.1 kilometers) southwest of Cairo, once the sprawling capital of Egypt; now, for all practical purposes, it does not exist.

When the city was founded about 3000 BC, it was known as “White Wall” and was later called Men-nefru-Mine or Menfe in Egyptian. From the latter the Greeks got the name Memphis. Though one Hebrew reference follows the Greek (Hos 9:6), Memphis is commonly called Noph in the OT (Is 19:13; Jer 2:16; 44:1; 46:14, 19; Ez 30:13, 16); presumably this is a corruption of the middle part of the Egyptian name.

History of Memphis

According to the fifth-century BC Greek historian Herodotus, King Menes founded the city of Memphis and built the temple of Ptah there shortly after unifying the country. Whether or not Menes was a historical person, it is commonly concluded today that shortly after the unification of Egypt (c. 3100 BC) a new capital was built on the border between Upper and Lower Egypt. Although the rulers of the first two dynasties after Egypt’s unification had come from Thinis, north of Thebes, the fact that they were buried at Saqqara west of Memphis seems to indicate that they made Memphis their capital.

Memphis continued as the capital of Egypt during the Old Kingdom period (c. 2700–2200 BC). And Memphis, or the nearby city of It-Towy, continued as capital during much of the Middle Kingdom (c. 2050–1775).

During the New Kingdom or Empire period (c. 1580– 1100), the capital was moved to Thebes. But Memphis was Egypt’s second capital during most of that period, and some rulers lived there because of its central geographical location. Ramses II moved his residence to Tanis in the Delta during the 13th century BC, but he built a number of structures at Memphis and engaged in large-scale renovation and restoration there. As early as the 16th or 15th century BC, Memphis began to take on a cosmopolitan character. Syrians, Phoenicians, Greeks, and Jews eventually established separate residential quarters there.

Though some decline set in at Memphis during the invasions and uncertainties of the first millennium BC, the city remained virtually intact. Even after the founding of Alexandria in the fourth century BC, the city maintained its greatness; some of the Ptolemies were crowned there instead of at the primary capital of Alexandria.

Memphis lost its importance as a religious center after the Christian emperor Theodosius closed its temples and ordered them torn down in the fourth century AD.

Prophecy against Memphis

As noted above, the only places Memphis is referred to in the OT are in the Prophets. Of course, Memphis shared in the general condemnation of Egypt, but it was signaled out for special attention. Ezekiel declared that God would destroy the idols of the city (Ez 30:13) and bring great distress upon it (v 16). Jeremiah went further, prophesying that Memphis would be utterly destroyed and without inhabitants (Jer 46:19).

Evidently, there are several reasons for this judgment. First, the punishment will come on all nations for their sinfulness and idolatry. Second, they will be punished for their animosity and cruelty to the Jews. In the generations before the exodus the Egyptians made their name hated by the Hebrews. After the death of Solomon and the division of the Hebrew kingdom, Shishak of Egypt invaded Palestine in the fifth year of King Rehoboam and wrought considerable destruction there (926 BC; 1 Kgs 14:25). Then in 609–608 BC Pharaoh Neco held Israel under tribute.

Fulfillment of prophecies against Memphis occurred especially in connection with two major events. The Christian Roman emperor Theodosius (AD 379–395), in his campaign against paganism, ordered destruction of the temples of Memphis and desecration of its statues. Then in the seventh century Muslim monotheists conquered Egypt and likewise tried to obliterate evidences of ancient polytheism. After the Arabs began to build Cairo in 642, Memphis became a quarry for the new city. Gradually the ruins have been carted away until virtually nothing is left. A fallen 40-foot statue of Ramses II, one of his sphinxes, a few column bases, and other minor ruins lie among the palm trees and cornfields at the site. The largest remaining portion sits in a lake because the breaching of the ancient dikes has permitted the place to be inundated.