Noph
Noph.
See Memphis.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Memphis
Mem'phis. (haven, of the good). A city of ancient Egypt, situated on that
western bank of the Nile, about nine miles south of Cairo, and five from the
great pyramids and the sphinx. It is mentioned by Isaiah, Isa_40:14; Isa_40:19,
and Ezekiel, Eze_30:13; Eze_30:16, under the name of Noph.
Though some regard Thebes as the more ancient city, the monuments of
Memphis are of higher antiquity than those of Thebes. The city is said to have
had a circumference of about 10 miles. The temple of Apis was one of the most
noted structures of Memphis. It stood opposite the southern portico of the
temple of Ptah; and Psammetichus, who built that gateway, also erected in front
of the sanctuary of Apis, a magnificent colonnade, supported by colossal
statues or Osiride pillars, such as may still be seen at the temple of Medeenet
Habou at Thebes. Herod. Ii, 153.
Through this colonnade, the Apis was led with great pomp upon state
occasions. At Memphis was the reputed burial-place of Isis; it has also a
temple to that "myriad-named" divinity. Memphis had also its
Serapeium, which probably stood in the western quarter of the city. The sacred
cubit, until other symbols used in measuring the rise of the Nile, were
deposited in the temple of Serapis. The Necropolis, adjacent to Memphis, was on
a scale of grandeur corresponding with the city itself.
The "city of the pyramids" is a title of Memphis in the
hieroglyphics upon the monuments. Memphis long held its place as a capital; and
for centuries, a Memphite dynasty ruled over all Egypt. Lepsius, Bunsen and
Brugsch agree in regarding the third, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth
dynasties of the old empire as Memphite, reaching through a period of about
1000 years. The city's overthrow was distinctly predicted by the Hebrew
prophets. Isa_19:13; Jer_46:19 The latest of these predictions was
uttered nearly 600 years before Christ, and a half a century before the
invasion of Egypt by Cambyses (cir, B.C. 525).
Herodotus informs us that Cambyses, engaged at the opposition he
encountered at Memphis, committed many outrages upon the city. The city never
recovered from the blow inflicted by Cambyses. The rise of Alexandria hastened
its decline. The caliph conquerors founded Fostat, (old Cairo), upon the
opposite bank of the Nile, a few miles north of Memphis, and brought materials
from the old city to build their new capital, A.D. 638. At length, so complete
was the ruin of Memphis that, for a long time , its very site was lost. Recent
explorations have brought to light many of its antiquities.
Source:
Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Memphis
mem´fis:
1. Name:
The ancient capital of Egypt, 12 miles South of the modern Cairo. This
Greek and Roman form of the name was derived from the Coptic form Menfi
(now Arabic Menf), the abbreviation of the Egyptian name Men-nofer,
“the good haven.” This name was applied to the pyramid of Pepy I, in the
cemetery above the city; some have thought the city name to have been derived
from the pyramid, but this is unlikely, as the city must have had a regular
name before that. It may perhaps mean “the excellence of Mena,” its founder. It
appears still more shortened in Hos (Hos_9:6)
as Moph (mōph), and in Isa (Isa_19:13),
Jer (Jer_2:16), and Ezek (Eze_30:13) as Noph (nōph).
2. Political Position:
The classical statements show that the city in Roman times was about 8
miles long and 4 miles wide, and the indications of the site agree with this.
It was the sole capital of Position Egypt from the Ist to the XVIIth Dynasty;
it shared supremacy with Thebes during the XVIIIth to XXVth Dynasties, and with
Sais to the XXXth Dynasty. Alexandria then gradually obscured it, but the
governor of Egypt signed the final capitulation to the Arabs in the old
capital. While other cities assumed a political equality, yet commercially
Memphis probably remained supreme until the Ptolemies.
3. The Founders and the City:
The oldest center of settlement was probably the shrine of the sacred
bull, Apis or Hapy, which was in the South of the city. This worship was
doubtless prehistoric, so that when the first king of all Egypt, Mena, founded
his capital, there was already a nucleus. His great work was taking in land to
the North, and founding the temple of the dynastic god Ptah, which was extended
until its enclosure included as much as the great temple of Amon at Thebes,
about 3 furlongs long and 2 furlongs wide. To the North of this was the sacred
lake; beyond that, the palace and camp. Gradually the fashionable quarters
moved northward in Egypt, in search of fresher air; the rulers had moved 10
miles North to Babylon by Roman times, then to Fostat, then Cairo, and lastly now
to Abbasiyeh and Kubkeh, altogether a shift of 18 miles in 8,000 years.
4. Archaeological Results:
After the shrine of Apis the next oldest center is that of Ptah, founded
by Mena. This was recently cleared in yearly sections by the British School,
finding principally sculptures of the XVIIIth and XIXth Dynasties. The account
of the north gate given by Herodotus, that it was built by Amenemhat III, has
been verified by finding his name on the lintel. An immense sphinx of alabaster
26 ft. long has also been found. To the East of this was the temple of the
foreign quarter, the temple of King Proteus in Greek accounts, where foreign
pottery and terra cotta heads have been found. Other temples that are known to
have existed in Memphis are those of Hathor, Neit, Amen, Imhotep, Isis,
Osiris-Sokar, Khnumu, Bastel, Tahuti, Anubis and Sebek.
A large building of King Siamen (XXIst Dynasty) has been found South of
the Ptah temple. To the North of the great temple lay the fortress, and in it
the palace mound of the XXVIth Dynasty covered two acres. It has been
completely cleared, but the lower part is still to be examined. The north end
of it was at least 90 ft. high, of brickwork, filled up to half the height by a
flooring raised on cellular brickwork. The great court was about 110 ft.
square, and its roof was supported by 16 columns 45 ft. high.
The principal sights of Memphis now are the great colossus of Rameses
II, the lesser colossus of the same, and the immense alabaster sphinx. The
cemetery of the city is the most important in Egypt; it lies 2 miles to the
West on the desert, and is known as Saqqareh, from So-kar, the god of the dead.
See SAQQAREH.
Source:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Memphis
Only in Hos_9:6, Hebrew Moph. In
Isa_19:13; Jer_2:16;
Jer_46:14, Jer_46:19;
Eze_30:13, Eze_30:16,
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, Isa_19:13; Isa_44:16-19,
and Jeremiah, Jer_46:19.”
Source:
Easton’s Bible Dictionary