Memphis is the Greek (followed by the English) rendition of Hebrew Noph, which is mentioned about half a dozen times in the Old Testament prophets (Isa 19:13; Jer 2:16; 44:1; 46:14 & 19; Eze 30:13 & 16; Hos 9:6). Memphis was a foundational city of Egyptian civilization when Upper Egypt (south) and Lower Egypt (north) was first united under Pharaoh Menes in the 3rd Mill BC. It became the capital of the Old Kingdom and remained an important city until the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great. The city evidently boasted a considerable population of Jews, who made for Egypt especially as the Babylonians pressed hard upon the nation in the last days of Judah (see, e.g., Jer 44:1; 46:19).
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The Stepped Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara
The Bent Pyramid at Saqqara
Little of the city is now left, though its necropolis, with its examples of earlier pyramids—the "Stepped Pyramid" of Djoser and the "Bent Pyramid"—at Saqqara, south of Cairo, remains an important archaeological and popular tourist site.
©ALBERITH