Memphis in Easton's Bible Dictionary
only in Hos. 9:6, Hebrew Moph. In Isa. 19:13; Jer. 2:16;
46:14,
19; Ezek. 30:13, 16, it is mentioned under the name
Noph. It was
the capital of Lower, i.e., of Northern Egypt. From
certain
remains found half buried in the sand, the site of
this ancient
city has been discovered near the modern village of
Minyet
Rahinch, or Mitraheny, about 16 miles above the
ancient head of
the Delta, and 9 miles south of Cairo, on the west
bank of the
Nile. It is said to have been founded by Menes, the
first king
of Egypt, and to have been in circumference about 19
miles.
"There are few remains above ground," says Manning
(The Land of
the Pharaohs), "of the splendour of ancient Memphis.
The city
has utterly disappeared. If any traces yet exist,
they are
buried beneath the vast mounds of crumbling bricks
and broken
pottery which meet the eye in every direction. Near
the village
of Mitraheny is a colossal statue of Rameses the
Great. It is
apparently one of the two described by Herodotus and
Diodorus as
standing in front of the temple of Ptah. They were
originally 50
feet in height. The one which remains, though
mutilated,
measures 48 feet. It is finely carved in limestone,
which takes
a high polish, and is evidently a portrait. It lies
in a pit,
which, during the inundation, is filled with water.
As we gaze
on this fallen and battered statue of the mighty
conqueror who
was probably contemporaneous with Moses, it is
impossible not to
remember the words of the prophet Isaiah, 19:13;
44:16-19, and
Jeremiah, 46:19."
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